






























CORNELLI 


SECOND IMPRESSION 


“&torte$s m C^ttDren Lob e” 

A SET OF CHILDREN’S CLASSICS THAT SHOULD BE 
IN EVERY WINTER HOME AND SUMMER COTTAGE 


Cornelli 

By JOHANNA SPYRI 

Translated by ELISABETH P. STORK 

A Child’s Garden of Verses 

By ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON 
The Little Lame Prince & other stories 
By MISS MULOCK 

Gulliver’s Travels 

By JONATHAN SWIFT 

The Water Babies 

By CHARLES EINGSLEY 

Pinocchio 

By C. COLLODI 

Robinson Crusoe 

By DANIEL DEFOE 

Heidi By johanna spyri 

Translated by ELISABETH P. STORK 

The Cuckoo Clock 

By MRS. MOLESWORTH 

The Swiss Family Robinson 

Edited by G. E. MITTON 

The Princess and Curdie 

By GEORGE MACDONALD 

The Princess and the Goblin 

By GEORGE MACDONALD 

At the Back of the North Wind 

By GEORGE MACDONALD 

A Dog of Flanders By ‘*ouida” 
Bimbi By "OUIDA” 

Mopsa, the Fairy By jean ingelow | 

The Chronicles of Fairyland 

By FERGUS HUME 

Hans Andersen’s Fairy Tales 

Each Volume Beautifully Illustrated in Color. 
Decorated Cloth. Other Books in This Set 
are in Preparation. 






ALL THE CHILDREN WERE SCREAMING WITH DELIGHT AT THE WONDERFUL RIDE 

Page 257 


% w 

CORNELLI 

ffa*. JOHANNA x SPYRI 

AUTHOR OF “HEIDI”, ETC. 

TRANSLATED BY 

ELISABETH P. STORK 

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 

CHARLES WHARTON STORK, A.M., Ph.D. 

ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR BY 

MARIA L. KIRK 



PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 

1920 

i? 1 



'$772 

Co 
I f 


COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 


PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
AT THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS 
PHILADELPHIA, U. S. A. 


486555 

JUL 1 6 1942 

'* ? . . I 



FOREWORD 

Many writers have suffered injustice in 
being known as the author of but one book. 
Robinson Crusoe was not Defoe’s only master- 
piece, nor did Bunyan coniine his best powers 
to Pilgrim’s Progress. N ot one person in ten of 
those who read Lorna Doone is aware that 
several of Blackmore’s other novels are almost 
equally charming. Such, too, has been the fate 
of Johanna Spyri, the Swiss authoress, whose 
reputation is mistakenly supposed to rest on 
her story of Heidi. 

To be sure, Heidi is a book that in its field 
can hardly be overpraised. The winsome, kind- 
hearted little heroine in her mountain back- 
ground is a figure to be remembered from 
childhood to old age. Nevertheless, Madame 
Spyri has shown here but one side of her 
narrative ability. 

If, as I believe, the present story is here 
first presented to readers of English, it must be 
through a strange oversight, for in it we find a 
deeper treatment of character, combined with 
equal spirit and humor of a different kind. 
Cornelli, the heroine, suffers temporarily from 


5 


FOREWORD 


the unjust suspicion of her elders, a misfortune 
which, it is to be feared, still occurs frequently 
in the case of sensitive children. How she was 
restored to herself and reinstated in her father’s 
affection forms a narrative of unusual interest 
and truth to life. Whereas in Heidi there is 
only one other childish figure — if we except the 
droll peasant boy Peter — we have here a lively 
and varied array of children. Manly, generous 
Dino ; Mux, the irrepressible ; and the two girls 
form a truly lovable group. The grown-ups, 
too, are contrasted with much humor and 
genuine feeling. The story of Cornelli, there- 
fore, deserves to equal Heidi in popularity, 
and there can be no question that it will de- 
light Madame Spyri’s admirers and will do 
much to increase the love which all children feel 
for her unique and sympathetic genius. 

Charles Wharton Stork 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Beside the Roaring Iller-Stream 13 

II. Up In the Top Story 34 

III. New Appearances in Iller-Stream 58 

IV. The Unwished-for Happens 82 

V. A Newcomer in Iller-Stream 109 

VI. A Friend is Found 130 

VII. A New Sorrow 158 

VIII. A Mother 181 

IX. A Great Change 210 

X. New Life in Iller-Stream 236 




ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

All the Children Were Screaming With Delight at the Won- 
derful Ride Frontispiece 


Cornell i Hung on Her Arm, and Together They Wandered 
Forth in the Beautiful Evening S2 

She Soon Returned With a Bright Red Ribbon, Which She 
Tied About the Little Kid’s Neck 72 

“You Should See How the Little Kid is Growing” 109 

“ Look, Here on Both Sides of My Forehead ” 142 

“There is Something in it That Looks Just Like You; it is an 
Owl That Has Rags Over Its Eyes Like You” 194 

Now Both Came Flying up the Steps, and Martha Ran Out to 
Meet Them 249 

“ There is Not a Rotten Plum or a Lonesome Pear in all the 
Orchard” 275 






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CORNELLI 









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CORNELLI 


CHAPTER I 

BESIDE THE ROARING ILLER- 
STREAM 

S PRING had come again on the banks 
of the Iller- Stream, and the young beech 
trees were swaying to and fro. One 
moment their glossy foliage was sparkling in 
the sunshine, and the next a deep shadow was 
cast over the leaves. A strong south wind was 
blowing, driving huge clouds across the sun. 

A little girl with glowing cheeks and blow- 
ing hair came running through the wood. Her 
eyes sparkled with delight, while she was being 
driven along by the wind, or had to fight her 
way against it. From her arm was dangling a 
hat, which, as she raced along, seemed anxious 
to free itself from the fluttering ribbons in order 
to fly away. The child now slackened her pace 
and began to sing: 


13 


CORNELLI 


The snow’s on the meadow. 

The snow’s all around. 

The snow lies in heaps 
All over the ground. 

Hurrah, oh hurrah ! 

All over the ground. 

Oh cuckoo from the woods, 

Oh flowers so bright. 

Oh kindliest sun. 

Come and bring us delight! 

Hurrah, oh hurrah ! 

Come and bring us delight ! 

When the swallow comes back 
And the finches all sing, 

I sing and I dance 

For joy of the Spring. 

Hurrah, oh hurrah ! 

For joy of the Spring. 

The woods rang with her full, young voice, 
and her song also roused the birds, for they, 
too, now carolled loudly, ready to outdo each 
other. Laughingly the child sang once more 
with all her might : 

Hurrah, oh hurrah ! 

For joy of the Spring. 

14 


BESIDE THE ILLER-STREAM 


and from all the branches sounded a many 
voiced chorus. 

Right on the edge of the woods stood a 
splendid old beech tree with a high, firm trunk, 
under which the child had often sought quiet 
and shelter after running about in the sun. She 
had reached the tree now and was looking up 
at the far-spreading branches, which were rock- 
ing up and down. 

The child, however, did not rest very long. 
Over where the wind struck an open space, it 
blew as mightily as ever, and the roaring, high 
up in the tree- tops, seemed to urge her on to 
new exertions. First she began fighting her 
way against the wind, but soon she turned. 
Driven by it, she flew down the steep incline 
to the path which led down to the narrow val- 
ley. She kept on running till she had reached 
a small wooden house, which looked down from 
a high bank to the roaring mountain stream. 
A narrow stairway led up from the ground to 
the front door of the little dwelling and to the 
porch, where on a wide railing were some 
fragrant carnations. 

The lively little girl now leaped up the 
15 


CORNELLI 


steps, two at a time. Soon she reached the 
top, and one could see that the house was famil- 
iar to her. 

“Martha, Martha, come out!” she called 
through the open door. “ Have you noticed 
yet how jolly the wind is to-day? ” 

A small old woman with gray hair now 
came out to greet the child. She was dressed 
in the simplest fashion, and wore a tight-fitting 
cap on her head. Her clothes were so very 
tidy and clean, however, that it seemed as if she 
might have sat on a chair all day for fear of 
spoiling them. Y et her hands told another tale, 
for they were roughened by hard work. 

“ Oh, Martha,” the child said, “ I just wish 
you knew how wonderful the wind is to-day up 
there in the woods and on the hill. One has to 
fight it with all one’s might, otherwise one 
might be blown down the mountain side like a 
bird. It would be so hard then to get on one’s 
feet again, wouldn’t it? Oh, I wish you knew 
what fun it is to be out in the wind to-day.” 

“ I think I would rather not know,” said 
Martha, shaking the child’s hand. “ It seems 

to me that the wind has pulled you about quite 
16 


BESIDE THE ILLER-STREAM 


a little. Come, we’ll straighten you up again.’’ 

The child’s thick dark hair was in a terrible 
state. What belonged on the left side of the 
parting had been blown to the right, and what 
belonged on the right side was thrown to the 
left. The little apron, instead of being in front, 
hung down on the side, and from the bottom of 
her skirt the braid hung loose, carrying upon 
it brambles and forest leaves. First Martha 
combed the little girl’s hair, then she pulled the 
apron into place. Finally she got a thread and 
needle and began to mend the braid on 
the dress. 

“ Stop, Martha, stop, please!” Cornelli 
called out suddenly, pulling her skirt away. 
“ You must not sew, for your finger is all 
pricked to pieces. There is only half of it left 
with those horrible marks.” 

“ That does not matter; just give me your 
little skirt,” replied Martha, continuing her 
sewing. “ This kind of work does not hurt me ; 
but when I sew heavy shirts for the farmers 
and the workmen in the iron works the mate- 
rial is so rough that, as I push the needle in, I 
often prick off little pieces of my finger.” 

2 17 


CORNELLI 


“ Why should you have to do that, Martha? 
They could make their own shirts and prick 
their own fingers,” cried Cornelli indignantly. 

“ No, no, Cornelli; do not speak like that,” 
replied the woman. “ You see, I am glad and 
grateful to be able to get work enough to earn 
my living without help. I have to be thankful 
to our Lord for all the good things he gives me, 
and especially for giving me enough strength 
for my work.” 

Cornelli looked about her searchingly, in 
the little room. It was modestly furnished, but 
most scrupulously clean. 

“ I do not think that God gave you so very 
much, really, but you keep everything so neat, 
and do it all yourself,” remarked Cornelli. 

“ I have to thank our Lord, though, that I 
am able to do it,” returned Martha. “ You see, 
Cornelli, if I had not the health to do everything 
the way I like it done, who could do it for me? 
It is a great gift to be able to step out every 
morning into the sunshine and to my carna- 
tions. Then I thank God in my heart for the 
joy of a new day before me. There are many 
poor people who wake up only to sorrow and 
18 


BESIDE THE ILLER-STREAM 


tears. They have to spend all day on their sick 
beds and have many troubles besides. Can you 
see now, Cornelli, how grateful I have to be to 
our Lord because nothing prevents me from 
sewing, even if I have to prick my fingers ? But 
I believe I hear the bell in the foundry. You 
know that means supper time, so rim back to 
the house as quickly as you can.” 

Martha knew well enough that she had to 
remind her little friend about returning, for 
often time had been forgotten and Cornelli had 
had to be sent for. But now the little girl 
began to run swiftly down the incline beside 
the rushing stream. Soon she came to the 
large buildings from which the sound of hissing 
fires, loud thumping and hammering could be 
heard all day. The noise was so great that only 
the roaring of the stream could drown it. Here 
were the works of the great iron foundry, 
well known far and wide, since most of those 
who lived in the neighborhood found em- 
ployment there. 

Glancing at the large doors and seeing that 
they were closed, Cornelli flew by them with 
great bounds. In an isolated house, well raised 
19 


CORNELLI 


above the stream, lived the proprietor of the 
foundry. Beautiful flower gardens were on 
three sides. 

Cornelli approached the open space in front 
and was soon inside. Flinging her hat into a 
corner, she entered the room where her father 
was already sitting at table. He did not even 
look up, for he was holding a large newspaper 
in front of him. As Cornelli’s soup was waiting 
for her, she ate it quickly, and since her father 
made no movement behind his paper, she helped 
herself to everything else that was before her. 

While she was nibbling on an apple, her 
father looked up and said: “I see that you 
have caught up with me, Cornelli. You even 
seem to be further along than I am. Just the 
same you must not come late to your meals. It 
is not right, even if you get through before me. 
Well, as long as you have finished, you can take 
this letter to the post office. There is some- 
thing in it which concerns you and which will 
please you. I have to go now, but I shall tell 
you about it to-night.” 

Cornelli was given the letter. Taking the 
20 


BESIDE THE ILLER-STREAM 


remainder of her apple with her, she ran out- 
side. With leaps and bounds she followed the 
rushing Iller- Stream, till the narrow path 
reached the wide country road. Here stood 
the stately inn, which was the post office of the 
place. In the open doorway stood the smiling 
and rotund wife of the innkeeper. 

“ How far are you going at this lively 
pace? ” she smilingly asked the child. 

“ I am only coming to you,” Cornelli re- 
plied. She was very much out of breath, so she 
paused before adding : “ I have to mail a letter.” 

“ Is that so? Just give it to me and we’ll 
attend to it,” said the woman. Holding the 
hand the child had offered her, she added : “You 
are well off, Cornelli, are you not? You do not 
know what trouble is, do you, child? ” 

Cornelli shook her head. 

“ Yes, of course. And why should you? It 
does one good to see your bright eyes. Come 
to see me sometimes ; I like to see a happy child 
like you.” 

Cornelli replied that she would gladly come 

again. She really meant to do so, for the 
21 


CORNELLI 


woman always spoke kindly to her. After say- 
ing good-bye, she ran away again, jumping 
and bounding as before. The innkeeper’s wife 
meantime muttered to herself, while she looked 
after Cornelli: “ I really think there is nothing 
better than to be always merry.” 

The contents of the letter, which the little 
girl had taken to be mailed, were as follows : 


Iller-Stream, 

28th of April, 18 — . 

My dear Cousin: 

My trip to Vienna, which I have put off again and 
again, at last has to be made. As I must leave in the 
near future, I am asking you the great favor of spending 
the summer here to superintend my household. I am 
counting greatly on your good influence on my child, who 
has had practically no education, although Miss Mina, 
my housekeeper, has of course done her best, with the 
help of our good Esther, who reigns in the kitchen. Old 
Martha, a former nurse of my poor dead wife, has done 
more than anybody else. Of course one can hardly call 
it education, and I have to blame myself for this neglect. 
As I am so busy with my affairs, I do not see much of 
my child. Besides, I know extremely little about bringing 
up little girls. There is no greater misfortune than the 
loss of a mother, especially such a mother as my Cornelia. 

22 


BESIDE THE ILLER-STREAM 


It was terrible for my poor child to lose her at the tender 
age of three. Please bring a good friend with you, so that 
you won’t suffer from solitude in this lonely place. 

Please gladden me soon by your arrival, and oblige 
Your sincere cousin, 

Frederick Hellmut. 

That same evening, when Director Hellmut 
was sitting in the living room with his daughter, 
he spoke of his hope that a cousin of his, Miss 
Kitty Dorner, would come to stay in Iller- 
Stream while he was on his trip to Vienna. He 
also told Cornelli to be glad of this prospect. 

After a few days came the following answer : 

B , The 4th of May, 18 — . 

My dear Cousin : 

To oblige you I shall spend the summer at your house. 
I have already planned everything and I have asked my 
friend Miss Grideelen to accompany me. I am very 
grateful that you realize how monotonous it would have 
been for me to stay alone in your house all summer. You 
do not need to have such disturbing thoughts about your 
daughter’s education. No time has yet been lost, for these 
small beings do not need the best of care at the start. 
They require that only when they are ripe enough for 
mental influences. Such small creatures merely vegetate, 
and I am quite sure Miss Mina was the right person to 
23 


CORNELLI 


look after the child’s wellbeing and proper nourishment. 
Esther, who you say is very reliable, too, has probably 
helped in taking care of the child as much as was neces- 
sary. The time may, however, have come now when the 
child is in need of a proper influence in her education. 

We shall not arrive before the last week of this month, 
for it would be inconvenient for me to come sooner. 

With best regards, 

I am your cousin, 

Kitty Dorner. 

“ Your cousin is really coming, Cornelli, 
and I am certain that you are happy now,” 
said her father. He had read the letter while 
they were having supper. “ Another lady is 
coming, too, and with their arrival a new de- 
lightful life will begin for you.” 

Cornelli, who had never before heard any- 
thing about this relation of her father’s, felt no 
joy at this news. She did not see anything 
pleasing in the prospect. On the contrary, it 
only meant a change in the household, which 
she did not in the least desire. She wanted 
everything to remain as it was. She had no 
other wish. 

Cornelli saw her father only at meals, for 
24 , 


BESIDE THE ILLER-STREAM 


he spent all the rest of his time in his business 
offices and in the extensive works. But the 
child never felt lonely or forsaken. She always 
had many plans, and there was hardly a mo- 
ment when she was not occupied. Her time 
between school hours always seemed much too 
short and the evenings only were half as long 
as she wanted them to be. It was then that she 
loved to walk and roam around. Her father 
had barely left the room, when she again ran 
outside and, as usual, down the path. 

At that moment the energetic Esther was 
coming from the garden with a large basket 
on her arm. She had wisely picked some vege- 
tables for the following day. 

“ Don’t go out again, Cornelli,” she 
said. “ Just look at the gray clouds above 
the mountain! I am afraid we shall have a 
thunderstorm.” 

“ Oh, I just have to go to Martha,” replied 
Cornelli quickly. “ I must tell her something, 
and I don’t think a storm will come so soon.” 

“ Of course it won’t come for a long while,” 
called Miss Mina. Through the open door she 

had overheard the warning and had stepped 
25 


CORNELLI 


outside to say: “ Just go to Martha, Cornelli; 
the storm won’t come for a long time, I 
am sure.” 

So the child flew away while Esther passed 
Miss Mina, silently shrugging her shoulders. 
That was always the way it happened when 
Cornelli wanted anything. If Miss Mina 
thought that something should not be done, 
Esther always arrived, saying that nothing on 
earth would be easier than to do that very 
thing. Or, if she thought that Cornelli should 
not do a thing, Miss Mina always helped to 
have it put through. The reason for this was a 
very simple one : each of them wanted to be the 
favorite with the child. 

Cornelli, arriving at Martha’s house, shot 
up the stairs and into the little room. Full of 
excitement, she called out: “Just think, 
Martha, two strange people are coming to our 
house. They are two ladies from the city, and 
father said that I should be glad ; but I am not 
a bit glad, for I do not know them. Would 
you be glad, Martha, if two new people sud- 
denly came to visit you? ” 

The child had to take a deep breath. She 
26 


BESIDE THE ILLER-STREAM 


had been running fast and had spoken 
terribly quickly. 

“ Just sit down here with me, Cornelli, and 
get your breath again,” said Martha quietly. 
“ I am sure that somebody is coming whom 
your father loves, otherwise he would not tell 
you to be glad. When you know them, I am 
sure you will feel happy.” 

“ Yes, perhaps. But what are you writing, 
Martha? I have never before seen you write,” 
said the child, full of interest, for her thoughts 
had been suddenly turned. 

“Writing is not easy for me,” answered 
Martha, “ and you could do it so much better 
than I can. It is a long time since I have 
written anything.” 

“ Just give it to me, Martha, and I’ll write 
for you if you will only tell me what.” Cor- 
nelli readily took hold of the pen and dipped it 
into the bottom of the inkstand. 

“ I’ll tell you about it and then you can 
write it in your own way; I am sure that you 
can do it better than I can,” said Martha, quite 

relieved. She had been sitting for a long time 

2.7 


CORNELLI 


with a pen in her hand, absolutely unable to 
find any beginning. 

“ You see, Cornelli,” she began, “ I have 
been getting along so well with my work lately 
that I have been able to buy a bed. For a long 
time I have wanted to do that, for I already 
had a table and two chairs, besides an old ward- 
robe. Now I have put them all into my little 
room upstairs, so that I can take somebody in 
for the summer. Sometimes delicate ladies or 
children come out of town to the comitry, and 
I could take such good care of them. I am 
always at home and I could do my usual work 
besides. You see, Cornelli, I wanted to put 
this in the paper, but I do not know how to do 
it and how to begin.” 

“ Oh, I’ll write it so plainly that somebody 
is sure to come right away,” Cornelli replied, 
full of zeal. “ But first of all, let us look at the 
little room! I am awfully anxious to see it.” 

Martha was quite willing, so she led the way 
up a narrow stairway into the little chamber. 

“ Oh, how fine it is, how lovely! ” exclaimed 
Cornelli, running, full of admiration, from one 
corner to the other. Martha had in truth fixed 
28 


BESIDE THE ILLER-STREAM 


it so daintily that it looked extremely pleas- 
ing. Around the windows she had arranged 
curtains of some thin white material with tiny 
blue flowers, and the same material had been 
used to cover an old wooden case. This she had 
fixed as a dainty washstand. The bed and two 
old chairs were likewise covered; the whole 
effect was very cheerful and inviting. 

“Oh, how pretty!” Cornelli exclaimed 
over and over again. “ How could you ever do 
it, Martha, or have so much money? ” 

“ Oh no, no, it was not much, but just 
enough for the bed and a little piece of mate- 
rial. I got the stuff very cheap, because it was 
a remnant. So you really do not think it is bad, 
child? Do you think that somebody would like 
to live here? ” Martha was examining every 
object she had so carefully worked over. 

“ Yes, of course, Martha, you can believe 
me,” Cornelli replied reassuringly. “ I should 
just love to come right away, if I did not live 
here already. But now I shall write, for I 
know exactly what I shall say.” Cornelli, 
running down stairs, dipped her pen into the 
ink and began to write. 

29 


CORNELL! 


“ But do not forget to say that it is in the 
country, and tell the name of the place here, so 
that they can find me,” said Martha, fearing 
she had set Cornelli a very difficult task. 

“ That is true, I have to say that, too,” re- 
marked Cornelli. When she had written the 
ending she began to read aloud: “If somebody 
should want a nice room, he can have it with 
Martha Wolf. She will take good care of deli- 
cate ladies or children and will see that they 
will be comfortable. Everything is very neat 
and there are lovely new blue and white covers 
on everything. It is in the country, in Iller- 
Stream, beside the Iller- Stream, quite near the 
large iron works.” 

Martha was thoroughly pleased. “You 
have said everything so clearly that one can 
easily understand it,” she remarked. “ I could 
not have said it myself, you see, for it would 
have seemed like boasting. Now if I only knew 
where to send it for the paper. I do not know 
quite what address to write on it.” 

“ Oh, I know quite well what to do,” Cor- 
nelli reassured her friend, “ I shall take it 

quickly to the post office. Sometimes when I 
30 


BESIDE THE ILLER-STREAM 

have taken letters there, I have heard people 
say to the innkeeper: 4 This must be put in the 
paper.’ Then he took it and said: 4 I’ll look 
after it.’ Now I shall do the same. Just give 
it to me, Martha.” 

Once more the woman glanced through 
what had been written. It seemed very strange 
to her that her name was going to appear in the 
newspaper, but, of course, it was necessary. 

“No, no, my good child,” she replied , 4 4 you 
have done enough for me now. You have 
helped me wonderfully, and I do not want you 
to go there for me. But your advice is good 
and I shall take the paper there myself.” 

44 Oh yes, and I’ll come, too,” said Cornelli 
delightedly. She knew no greater pleasure 
than to take a walk with her old friend, for 
Martha always discovered such interesting 
things and could point them out to Cornelli, 
telling her many, many things about them. In 
many places Martha would be reminded of 
Cornelli’s mother; then with great tenderness 
she would tell the child about her. Martha was 
the only one who ever talked to Cornelli about 

her mother. Her father never spoke of her; 

31 


CORNELLI 


and Esther, who had been in their service for a 
long time, always replied when the child 
wanted to talk to her about her mother: “ Do 
not talk, please ; it only makes one sad. People 
shouldn’t stir up such memories.” 

“ So you are coming, too? ” Martha said 
happily. It was her greatest joy to take a 
walk with her small, merry companion. Cor- 
nelli hung on her arm, and together they wan- 
dered forth in the beautiful evening. The 
storm clouds had passed over, and towards the 
west the sky was flaming like fiery gold. 

“Do you think, Martha, that my mother 
can see the golden sky as well from inside as 
we see it from the outside? ” asked the child, 
pointing to the sunset. 

“ Yes, I am quite sure of that, Cornelli,” 
Martha eagerly answered. “'If our dear Lord 
lets his dwelling glow so beautifully from out- 
side, just think how wonderful it must be in- 
side where the blessed are in their happiness! ” 

“ Why are they so glad? ” Cornelli wanted 
to know. 

“ Oh, because they are freed from all sor- 
row and pain. They are also glad because 
32 



CORNELL! HUNG ON HER ARM, AND TOGETHER THEY WANDERED FORTH IN THE 

BEAUTIFUL EVENING 







BESIDE THE ILLER-STREAM 


they know that every pain or sorrow their loved 
ones on earth have to bear is only a means to 
bring their prayers to Him who alone can 
guide them to Heaven.” 

“ Did my mother pray to Him, too ? ” asked 
Cornelli again. 

“ Yes, yes, Cornelli, you can be sure of 
that,” Martha reassured her. “ Your mother 
was a good, pious lady. Everybody should 
pray to be able to go where she is.” 

The two now reached the post office and 
gave their message to the innkeeper and post- 
master. When twilight had come and the even- 
ing bell had long ago rung, they wandered back 
along the pleasant valley road between 
green meadows. 


s 


CHAPTER II 


UP IN THE TOP STORY 

O NE bright morning in May, a portly 
gentleman, leaning heavily on a gold- 
headed cane, was walking up the nar- 
row city street. The houses here were so high 
that the upper windows could scarcely be seen 
from below. A steep rise in the street caused 
the gentleman to stop from time to time to get 
his breath. Scrutinizing the house numbers, 
he said to himself several times: “Not yet, not 
yet.” Then, climbing up still higher, he at 
last reached a house beside whose open door 
six bells were hanging. 

The gentleman now began to study the 
names under the bells, meanwhile gravely shak- 
ing his head, for he did not seem to find the 
name he was seeking. 

“ Oh dear, at last! and the highest one up, 
too,” he sighed, while he entered the house. 
Now the real climbing began. At first the 
steps, though rather high, were white and neat. 
34 , 


UP IN THE TOP STORY 


But after a while they became dark and nar- 
row, and in the end the way led over worn, un- 
even steps to a narrow door. The only stand- 
ing room was on the last small step. 

“ Is this a cage? ” said the climber to him- 
self, breathing hard and holding fast to the rail- 
ing. The thin and creaking steps seemed to 
him extremely unsafe. After he had pulled 
the bell-rope, the door opened, and a lady 
dressed in black stood before him. 

“Oh, is it you, kind guardian?” she ex- 
claimed with astonishment. “I am so sorry that 
you had to come up these winding steps,” she 
added, for she noticed that the stout gentleman 
had to wipe his face after the great exertion. 
“ I should have been very glad to go down to 
you, if you had let me know that you were 
here.” The lady meanwhile had led the gentle- 
man into the room and asked him to seat himself. 

“ As your guardian I simply had to come 
once to see you,” he declared, seating himself 
on an old sofa and still leaning with both hands 
on the golden knob of his cane. “ I have to 
tell you, my dear Mrs. Halm, that I am sorry 
you moved to town. Y ou should have followed 
$5 


CORNELLI 


my advice and lived in a small house in the 
country. It would have been so much more 
practical for you than to live in this garret 
lodging where you have no conveniences what- 
ever. I am quite sure that the country air 
would have been much better for both you and 
the children.” 

“ I could not think about conveniences for 
myself, when my husband died, and I had to 
leave the parsonage, Mr. Schaller,” replied the 
lady, with a faint smile. “ The country air 
would naturally have been much better for my 
children, especially for my older boy. But he 
had to come to town on account of school, and 
I could not possibly have sent him away from 
me, delicate as he is. Besides ” 

“ There are boarding places in town where 
such boys are well taken care of,” the visitor 
interrupted. What other reasons did 
you have? ” 

“ My girls, too, are old enough to learn some- 
thing which they can make use of later on,” 
continued the lady. “ You know that this is 
necessary and that it is very hard to get such 
opportunities in the country. I hope I have 
36 


UP IN THE TOP STORY 


persuaded you that coming to town with the 
children was not a foolish undertaking. I am 
extremely glad that you have given me an 
opportunity to explain why I did not follow 
your advice.” 

“ What are your daughters going to learn ? ” 
the gentleman asked abruptly. 

“ Nika, the elder, paints quite well,” replied 
the lady, “ and Agnes has a decided talent for 
music. If both girls are earnest in their studies, 
they hope later on to be able to teach; indeed, 
they are very anxious to do so.” 

“ These arts do not bring good returns, 
even after years and years of study,” said the 
gentleman. “ It would be much more sensible 
for the sisters to busy themselves with dress- 
making. They could quickly begin a business 
in which they might help each other and make 
some money. This would really help both you 
and your son a great deal. If your boy is going 
to study, it will be a long time before he can 
be independent.” 

The parson’s widow looked sadly in front 
of her without saying a word. 

“ Please do not misunderstand me. I am 
S7 


CORNELLI 


only speaking in your and your children’s in- 
terest,” the gentleman began again. “ I am 
very sorry not to have met your daughters, for 
they would soon have agreed with me, if they 
had heard my reasons. Nowadays young 
people understand quite well what it means to 
make one’s way easily and advantageously. 
You can be sure of that.” 

“ My children may still be a little backward 
in this knowledge. They may, through the in- 
fluence of their parents, still care for the things 
which you call the breadless arts,” said the lady 
with a sigh. “ But I shall make my children 
acquainted with your ideas and I shall try to 
speak to them according to your views, at least 
as far as I am able.” 

“ How old is the eldest? She ought to be 
old enough to understand my reasons,” re- 
marked the gentleman. 

“ Nika is in her fourteenth year. Her edu- 
cation is, of course, still incomplete in many 
ways,” replied the lady. “ Dino is twelve and 
Agnes eleven years old. The latter must first 
of all complete her compulsory school years.” 

“ Still rather young people,” said Mr. 

38 


UP IN THE TOP STORY 


Schaller, shaking his head. “ I am sure of one 
thing, however. The longer their education 
will take, the shorter should be the ways to the 
goal. I am more and more convinced that my 
advice is right. If you give your little daughters 
into the hands of a clever dressmaker, your 
moving to the city will have been of some 
real use.” 

In his great zeal to convince his silent lis- 
tener, the visitor had not noticed that a small 
boy had entered. This little fellow had at first 
hidden behind his mother, but, at a sign from 
her, approached the gentleman. He noticed 
the child only when a small fist pushed itself 
forcibly into his closed right hand. 

“ Please forgive the rather aggressive greet- 
ing of my small son,” begged the mother. 

“ Oh, here is another, still. I knew there 
was a smaller one,” exclaimed the dismayed 
visitor. “ Well, boy, what is your name? ” 

“ Mux,” was the reply. 

The gentleman looked questioningly at 
the mother. 

“ That is the name his brother and sisters 
have given him and the one which seems to have 
S9 


CORNELLI 


remained quite permanently,” she replied. 
“ His name is really Marcus and he is just five 
years old.” 

“ Well, well, and what do you want to be 
when you grow up, my young friend? ” asked 
Mr. Schaller. 

“ An army general,” unhesitatingly replied 
the small boy. After these words the gentle- 
man got up. 

“ It seems to me, my dear Mrs. Halm, that 
all your children have pretty high-flown ideas,” 
he said impressively. “ I can only hope that 
before long they will learn that in this world 
it is not possible for everybody to do what 
he pleases.” 

The mother approved this good wish, but 
added: “ I have to tell you, though, that Mux 
has gotten this idea from his favorite book, 
where the picture of a general on horseback 
interests him more than anything else. This, 
of course, is a passing impression, like 
many others.” 

“ One can never urge proper and successful 
work too soon nor too often ; please do not over- 
look that, my friend ! ” With these words the 
40 


UP IN THE TOP STORY 


guardian ended the interview and, saying good- 
bye, carefully descended the steep staircase. 

Just then a child was running up the stairs 
so quickly that it actually seemed as if she had 
no need to touch the steps at all. As the gentle- 
man was taking up all the room, the only space 
left for a passage was under the arm with which 
he held the railing. Here the lithe creature 
tried to slip through. 

“ Stop, stop ! Do you not belong to the 
parson’s widow, Mrs. Halm?” asked the gentle- 
man, making a barrier with his arm. 

“ Yes, I belong to her,” was the quick 
answer. And stooping down still lower, the 
small person again tried to pass. 

“ Just hold still one moment, if you can,” 
the gentleman now demanded. “ You prob- 
ably know that I am Mr. Schaller, your guar- 
dian. I have just given your mother some 
advice, which was meant for your good. You 
do not look in the least stupid, so you can help 
to persuade your mother. I am sure you can 
understand what is good for you. Are you 
the elder? ” 


41 


CORNELLI 


“ No, the younger one,” came quickly back 
for answer. 

“So much the better. Then the elder will 
be still more sensible. If you take my advice 
you can both contribute to the prosperity of the 
whole family.” With these words the gentle- 
man gave the little girl his hand and went away. 

Agnes flew up the rest of the stairs and 
into the narrow hall. Her brother Mux was 
standing expectantly in the open doorway. He 
did this every day at the time his brother and 
sisters were coming home from school. He 
loved the change that their coming brought 
after the quiet morning. 

“ A fat gentleman was here and mother said 
afterward: 4 Oh God! ’ and you can’t play the 
piano any more,” he reported. 

Agnes ran into the next room and as quickly 
out again. “Where is mother? Mother, 
mother!” she called, opening one door 
after another. 

44 Here I am, Agnes, but do not be so 
violent,” sounded the mother’s voice from 
the kitchen. 

Agnes ran to her. “ Mother, what is Mux 
42 


UP IN THE TOP STORY 


saying? Is it really true? I know that Mr. 
Schaller has been here and that he can tell us 
what we have to do. What did he say? Is it 
really true what Mux has said? Oh, I’ll never 
eat again! I don’t want to sleep or do any- 
thing any more. Everything, then, is lost ! ” 

Agnes was frightfully excited. Her cheeks 
were dark red and her eyes seemed to shoot 
forth flashes of lightning. 

“ But, child, you must not speak this way. 
Do not get so terribly excited,” the mother 
calmly admonished her. “ There is no time 
now to discuss a subject which we have to talk 
over quietly. We shall do so to-night. You 
know perfectly well that I have the greatest 
sympathy for your wishes and ambitions, and 
that it means as much to me as to you. As 
soon as we have a quiet hour together we can 
talk it all over.” 

These words quieted the child. She knew 
that her mother always shared every experi- 
ence with them. In coming to town, mother 
and daughter had hoped to be able to carry 
out their most fervent wish, namely, the com- 
pletion of Agnes’ musical education. Agnes 
4 3 


CORNELLI 


could count on her mother’s help. It was for 
the happiness of both of them. So Agnes went 
out to the kitchen to do her work as usual. Both 
the sisters always helped to lighten their 
mother’s work, for their only servant was quite 
a young girl, who did not do much besides 
run errands. 

Mux went back to his former place. He 
was intensely pleased with the great effect and 
excitement his words had produced on Agnes. 
Hearing somebody else coming upstairs, he 
prepared to repeat his speech. 

When Nika was near enough to hear him 
he said: “ A fat gentleman has been here, and 
when he was gone mother said : ‘ Oh God ! ’ 
and you are not to paint any more trees 
and flowers.” 

Nika, not having seen Mr. Schaller, did not 
understand these words. Unruffled and silent, 
she passed Mux and went into the other room, 
which disappointed Mux terribly. So when he 
heard Dino coming up the stairs, he unloaded 
his disappointment on him. 

“We are not going to have them to-day,” 
he announced. 


44 


UP IN THE TOP STORY 


“ What do you think we will have? What 
am I supposed to be thinking of, little guesser?” 
Dino called out. 

“ Oh, I know. Whenever you think we are 
going to have green peas for lunch, you run up 
very quickly. You can’t even wait, you love 
them so,” Mux asserted. “ But we won’t have 
any to-day, for we are going to have cabbage 
instead. There, now you have it ! ” 

4 4 Now come in and we’ll see who makes a 
worse face about it, you or I ! ” 

With these words Dino took his little 
brother’s hand, and together they ran into the 
room. Very soon afterwards, the family all 
sat down to their mid-day meal. On most days 
the children would be telling their mother 
about the happenings of the morning. They 
would all talk at once until it was quite hard 
for her to do them all justice. But to-day it 
was different. It seemed as if a storm was in 
the air; everybody was silent, and on all faces, 
except one, heavy clouds seemed to be resting. 
Nika sat brooding and staring in front of her, 
for Agnes had interpreted to her their little 
brother’s words. She swallowed very hard on 
45 


CORNELL! 


every mouthful, because she had to swallow a 
great deal more besides. Agnes was frowning 
so that her whole forehead was like one huge 
wrinkle. The mother, too, was busy with 
deep thoughts, as one could see from her 
worried expression. 

Mux, who generally was extremely talka- 
tive, was quietly nibbling on his dish of cab- 
bage, with many a deep sigh. Dino alone was 
merry. He glanced with great expectation 
from one to the other, and his lunch did not 
keep him very busy. 

“ I am expecting a thunderstorm,” he said, 
while the quiet was still unbroken. “ Nika is 
going to let loose the lightning which is flashing 
under her lashes, and Agnes will follow with 
the thunder. After this I predict a heavy rain- 
storm, for Mux can hardly keep back his tears 
about this cabbage.” 

“ But you have eaten much less cabbage 
than I have,” Mux cried out. 

“ I do this only from moderation, my little 
man, so that nobody will get too little.” 

“ I would answer you about the thunder 
and the cabbage, Dino, if I had time,” Agnes 
46 


UP IN THE TOP STORY 


at last exploded. “ But I have a music lesson 
at one o’clock and I have enough to swallow 
without this horrid cabbage.” 

“ I only wish you could be more moderate 
in other things instead of in eating, Dino,” 
said the mother with a melancholy smile. “You 
have hardly eaten anything, and I heard you 
cough all night. Y our health worries me dread- 
fully, Dino. Did you cough much in school 
this morning? ” 

“ Certainly, mother. But that is nothing 
to worry about,” Dino replied merrily. “ It 
always goes away again. My professor said 
to-day that it would have been better for me 
to remain in the pastoral fields of my native 
village, than to have sought the dust-laden cor- 
ners of town. But I answered: 4 Unfortu- 
nately the Latin language does not sprout from 
the pastoral fields, professor.’ ” 

“ Oh, I hope you did not answer that,” the 
mother said, quite frightened. 

4 4 Oh yes, but only in my thoughts ! Please, 
mother, don’t worry about me,” Dino implored. 

44 1 am afraid that your professor is right,” 
the mother said with a sigh. 44 But I have a 
47 


CORNELL! 


plan which we shall talk over to-night. I shall 
also talk over our guardian’s proposal, girls. 
Please try not to look so terribly unhappy, for 
everything is not yet lost.” 

“ Oh, it will come to that in the end,” said 
Nika, leaving the room. 

“ Yes, and much worse, I guess,” said 
Agnes. Violently pushing her chair in place, 
she departed, after thrusting her music into 
a folder. 

“ What can be worse than when all is lost? ” 
Dino called after her. 

“ I know what,” responded Mux know- 
ingly, while Agnes looked back at Dino as if to 
say: If I had time I certainly would give an 
answer to you. 

“ What is it, wise little man? ” asked Dino. 

“If she had to eat nothing but cabbage all 
the time,” replied Mux, full of a conviction 
which he seemed to have acquired from his 
own experience. 

Dino, too, prepared to depart. With a sor- 
rowful look, the mother passed her hand over 
the boy’s thick hair. “ Please be careful, and 

do not run too fast,” she begged. “ It’s very 
48 


UP IN THE TOP STORY 


bad for you to sit in the cool school room when 
you are so overheated. I can scarcely ever see 
you go, without anxiety.” 

“ But I am surely not as sick as that, little 
mother,” Dino said, tenderly embracing her. 
“ When somebody has a cough it always goes 
away again after a while. That is the way with 
me. Be merry and everything will be all right 
in the end. But I have to go now, it is late,” 
he exclaimed . 

“ But do not hurry so terribly, Dino, there 
is time enough yet, and remember what I told 
you,” she called after him. Then stepping to 
the open window, she followed the running boy 
down the street with her eyes. 

Dino gave Mrs. Halm great anxiety, for 
he seemed more delicate every day. Her 
watchful eye had detected how poor his appe- 
tite had been lately. Despite that, the boy had 
a very sweet disposition and was always full of 
fun. He was always anxious to have every- 
body in a good humor, and above all, his mother. 
Of all the burdens she had to bear, the trouble 
about her son’s health was the hardest. One 
could see this by the painful expression on her 
4 49 


CORNELLI 


face when she left the window and sat down 
beside her work table. 

Mux was just repeating a question for the 
third time, but his mother did not hear him. 
Loudly raising his voice he said once more: 
“ Oh, mother, why does one have to eat what 
the cows get? ” 

“ What do you mean, Mux ? What are you 
talking about? ” she asked. 

“ I saw it in my picture book. The leaves 
the cows get are just the same as those in the 
kitchen,” he explained none too clearly, but the 
mother understood him directly. She remem- 
bered how interestedly he had looked at the 
cabbage leaves when the girl had brought them 
home from market. She also bore in mind a 
picture in his favorite book, where a stable boy 
was shown giving a glossy brown cow splendid 
green leaves to eat. 

“ So you still have the cabbage in your 
head, Mux?” said the mother. “You must 
not be dissatisfied when there are so many poor 
children who have to go hungry. While you 
get bread and good vegetables, they may be 
suffering.” 


50 


UP m THE TOP STORY 


“ Oh, can’t we send them the rest of the 
cabbage? ” Mux quickly suggested. 

“ Come and work on the embroidery I have 
started for you, Mux. We shall see who can 
beat to-day. Perhaps that will clear away your 
thoughts about the cabbage. Come and sit be- 
side me, Mux.” 

The mother put a little chair beside hers 
and placed the work in the boy’s nimble fingers. 
Now a race with stitches began, and in his zeal 
to beat his mother he at last forgot the subject 
that had troubled him so much. 

The late evening had come and the chil- 
dren’s work for school was done. Mrs. Halm 
put the big mending basket away and took up 
her knitting. The time had come, when, clus- 
tering eagerly about their mother, the children 
told her all the troubles and joys of the day. 

It was the hardest hour of the day for Mux, 
for it was his bedtime. His mother always took 
him by the hand, to lead him to bed, before she 
began to talk with the three elder children. 
Every evening he put up a fight, for the wily 
youngster always thought that by obstinate 

resistance he could break the rule. His mother, 
51 


CORNELLI 


however, knew well that his success would only 
result in dreadful yawns and heavy eyes. 

This evening he found himself ready for 
bed before he had had time to prepare for his 
fight. His mother seemed anxious to have him 
in bed punctually that night. The boy was 
always reconciled to his fate when she sat down 
a moment beside his bed to hear of anything 
that might be troubling him. Mux, knowing 
that all conversation was irrevocably closed 
after his prayers were said, would try every 
night to prolong this period. 

After Mux had climbed into bed, he said 
thoughtfully: “Don’t you think, mother, that 
if people planted cherries where cabbage now 
grows everybody could eat cherries instead 
of cabbage? ” 

“ We simply have to stop now, Mux,” Mrs. 
Halm replied to his astonishment, for he had 
hoped to start a long conversation. 

“ Well, Mux, you don’t seem to be able to 
get over the cabbage to-day. Go to sleep, for 
you have talked enough about it.” 

Mux knew then that nothing could be done 
that day. After his evening prayer and a kiss 
52 


UP IN THE TOP STORY 


from his mother, he lay down and was fast 
asleep before his mother had even shut the door. 

Agnes had just finished her last task and 
was throwing her books into a drawer, each 
more violently than the other. She was still 
terribly excited, and as soon as her mother came 
back to the room, she burst forth : “ Oh, mother, 
if I am not allowed to study music any more, I 
would rather stop learning anything. Why 
can’t I become a servant girl? I could do the 
work well enough. As soon as I have earned 
enough money, I’ll buy a harp and then I can 
wander from house to house, singing and play- 
ing. I can easily live like that. Nobody needs 
to be a dressmaker. People can wear petti- 
coats and jackets. That is enough, and those 
can be woven. All other children are better off 
than we are. They can learn what they please 
and we can’t learn anything ! ” An outburst of 
tears choked all further words. 

During her sister’s speech Nika had been 
quietly drawing, but she was holding her head 
lower and lower over her work without once 
looking up. She continued her studies, but 

her eyes seemed to be filling. Pushing her 
53 


CORNELLI 

work away, she held her handkerchief before 
her face. 

“ Oh, children,” said the mother, looking 
sadly at them, “ do not be so desperate right 
away. You know that your good is my good 
as well, and that I am doing and shall keep on 
doing everything in my power to fulfill your 
ambitions. It would be my happiest joy to 
have your talents developed, so that you could 
devote all your lives to music and painting. If 
we should find it impossible, however, dear 
children, we must firmly believe that it would 
not have been for the best, had we succeeded, 
for God alone knows which way to lead us. 

“Do not lose your confidence in a kind 
Father in Heaven, for that is our greatest con- 
solation. He won’t forget us, if we do not for- 
get Him, and we must remember that He can 
see further than we can, for He knows why and 
where He is leading us. We cannot look into 
the future, but later we shall understand it all 
and realize why we had to bear our troubles. 
Out of them will come the greatest blessings.” 

“ Now let us be happy again and let us 
sing a song,” said Dino, who loved to be gay 
54 , 


UP IN THE TOP STORY 


and who liked to see everyone about him merry, 
too. “Let us sing: 

If winter’s storms are wild and long 
We know that spring is coming. 

To Agnes, whom I hear rebel. 

This consolation I here tell. 


“ Yes, Dino, it is easy enough for you to 
laugh/’ Agnes exclaimed. “ You would prob- 
ably whistle another tune if you had to become 
a tailor. But you can learn and study every- 
thing you want to.” 

“ I shall certainly not study everything,” 
Dino informed her. “ But your singing is 
much nicer than your arguing, Agnes, so please 
begin, and if you don’t like my song, you can 
start another.” 

“ We shall all sing together later on, chil- 
dren,” said the mother. “ I have to speak to 
you, too, Dino. I am troubled about your 
cough and your health. I have looked about 
for quite a while to find a suitable place in the 
country where I could send you. Of course, 
there are plenty of places, but I want you to 
go into some modest house where you can be 
55 


CORNELLI 


looked after. I found a notice in the paper 
to-day which might be just what I am looking 
for. Read it yourself, Dino.” 

Dino began to read. “ Yes, yes, mother, I 
must go there,” he said, shaking with merri- 
ment. “ I must go to Martha in Iller-Stream. 
I am sure that it is very cosy in Martha Wolf’s 
house, where everything is so neat and the 
covers are so fresh.” 

The sisters now wanted also to see the 
notice that made Dino laugh so heartily. He 
read the paragraph aloud about Martha Wolf 
in Iller-Stream and they all agreed that it 
would be pleasant there. The mother decided 
to write to the woman at once and to take Dino 
there as soon as possible. 

“ Now we shall sing a song to end the day,” 
she said, sitting down at the old piano. Every 
day the children sang an evening song to her 
accompaniment. Opening the book she her- 
self started and the three children took up the 
song with their pure, fresh voices : 

When bowed with grief. 

Go seek relief 
Of God, our Lord above. 

56 


UP IN THE TOP STORY 


Thy need has grown, 

When left alone. 

For great and 1 helping love. 
Before thou’st said, 

Before thou’st prayed. 

He knows thy inmost need. 
And by His care. 

His love so rare. 

From sorrow thou art freed. 


CHAPTER III 


NEW APPEARANCES IN ILLER- 
STREAM 

I N the Director’s house in Iller- Stream 
reigned great excitement. The day had 
come when the two ladies from town were 
expected to arrive for their lengthy stay. To 
celebrate the coming of his guests, the master 
of the house had ordered a festive dinner for 
the middle of the day. He had been longing 
for this day, so was in a splendid humor. It 
was very important for him to start on his 
journey right away, and he had waited only 
to be able formally to receive his visitors. Also 
he had promised his cousin to give the reins of 
the household into her hands himself, after 
which event he had planned to start on 
his journey. 

To Cornelli the preparations for the arrival 
of the new members of the household seemed 
very annoying, everything being different from 

usual. She commonly very much enjoyed the 
58 


NEW APPEARANCES 


prospect of company, for on such occasions she 
paid frequent visits to the kitchen, where 
Esther was always busy cooking. 

As soon as Cornelli appeared in the door- 
way, Esther would call to her: “ Come and see 
which you like best, Cornelli; I am sure they 
are not so bad.” A small yellow apple tart 
and a round purple plum cake were ready for 
the child to taste, for her visit had been antici- 
pated. Cornelli always assured the cook that 
the apple tarts were excellent and the plum 
cakes even better. 

Then Cornelli would go into the pantry, 
where Miss Mina was fixing fruit on the crys- 
tal platters. Here many a raisin and almond 
would drop beside the plate, and from there 
find its way into Cornelias pocket. It was 
pleasant to have a supply whenever she felt 
like eating. The housekeeper dropped many 
nuts on purpose, for she did not want to be less 
sought after than her rival in the kitchen. 

To-day Esther was flying around the 
kitchen violently rattling her pots and pans, 
and when Cornelli appeared, to see what was 
going on, the cook called to her : “ Off with you ! 

59 


CORNELL! 


I have nothing for you here to-day. The ladies 
from town must not think that they have to 
show me how to cook a good dinner. I’ll show 
them. Go away and make room here for me. 
Make room, Cornelli! I have to fix 
the vegetables.” 

Cornelli ran to the pantry. 

Mina was just building up a splendid pile 
of cookies and almond rings. “ Don’t come 
rushing in like that, or it will all tumble down,” 
she objected. “ Don’t come so near to the 
table; this plate is all ready and nothing must 
be missing from it. I won’t have it said that 
one can see there is no mistress in this house, 
and that nobody here knows how to set a table.” 

“ If you are all so stingy to-day, I won’t 
bother you any more,” said Cornelli, and with 
these words she turned around and marched 
indignantly out of the house. 

That moment, hearing the sound of ap- 
proaching wheels, and looking down the road 
through the open place in front of the house, 
she spied the expected carriage with two ladies 
sitting in it. 

“ Matthew, Matthew,” she called out, in 
60 


NEW APPEARANCES 


the direction of the large stable and the barn. 
These lay a little distance from the house, and 
were hidden by trees. 

Matthew was the gardener who looked 
after the horses, and had also to superintend 
all the work done by his assistant in the gar- 
den and the stable. He was Cornelli’s 
special friend, whom she had known ever 
since she could remember, for he had served 
her grandfather. 

He now came from the stable and mysteri- 
ously beckoned to her: “Come here quickly, 
run fast! ” he said. “We’ll still get to the 
carriage in time. Only come for a moment.” 

Cornelli ran to him, and looking into the 
stable, saw lying on soft fresh hay a tiny, snow- 
white kid. It looked like a toy, but was 
really alive. 

“ Oh, where did it come from, Matthew? 
Oh, how cunning it is! The white fine fur is 
just like silk! Can it walk alone? Can it 
stand, too, if it wants to? Oh, just see how 
friendly it is and how it is rubbing its little 
head against me.” 

“ Yes, but come, now; the carriage is driv- 
61 


CORNELL! 


ing up,” Matthew urged. “ Come quickly, 
you can see it every day. Just think! It was 
only born to-day.” 

The carriage had just driven into the court 
and Matthew was there the moment the horses 
stopped. The Director was there, too; not to 
lose any time and yet not be tardy, he had put 
a watcher at the door to let him know when the 
carriage was approaching. The Director was 
very polite and lifted his cousin out of the car- 
riage, greeting her heartily. Then he helped 
Miss Grideelen to dismount, thanking her 
warmly for coming. He told her how glad he 
was that she had been willing to follow his 
cousin into this solitude, for otherwise it would 
have worried him to leave her alone so long. 
He appreciated their great sacrifice in coming 
and he hoped that his trip, which was very 
urgent, would not keep him away too long. 

“Where is your daughter, Frederick?” 
asked Miss Dorner now. 

The Director glanced about. 

“ I saw her just a moment ago. Where 
are you, Cornelli? ” he called towards the house. 

“ Here I am ! ” It sounded from very near, 
62 


NEW APPEARANCES 


for Cornelli had hidden behind her father, so 
as to inspect the new arrivals without being 
seen herself. 

“ Come forward and speak to your cousin 
and to Miss Grideelen! ” ordered Mr. Hellmut. 

Cornelli gave her hand first to her relative 
and then to the other lady, saying to each: 
“ How do you do? ” 

“ You can call me cousin, and this lady is 
called Miss Grideelen,” said the cousin, hoping 
that the child would repeat her greeting and 
would call her and her friend by the names she 
was just told to use in speaking to them. But 
the child did not say another word. 

The Director now turned towards the car- 
riage, giving Matthew instructions for the 
horses. Then everybody stepped into the house 
and soon the whole company sat down at the 
richly laden dinner table. Miss Mina earned 
many praises for the deliciously planned meal. 
When the afternoon came the host took the 
ladies around his place, for his cousin was 
anxious to become acquainted with everything 
she had to take care of. 

“ Oh, what an abundance of fruit! ” Miss 
63 


CORNELLI 


Grideelen exclaimed over and over again. 
“ How many cherry trees and what enormous 
apple trees! Oh, what a row of pear trees! 
You must be able to fill your bins with fruit in 
the autumn, Mr. Hellmut! Where do you 
have room for it all? ” 

“ I do not know about it; my servants take 
care of that, for I have no time.” 

“ It is a great shame, Frederick, that you 
do not have half a dozen children. They would 
help to look after these matters,” the cousin 
remarked. “ By the way, I wonder where your 
child is. She does not seem to be very sociable.” 

“ I do not know where she is,” replied Mr. 
Hellmut. “ I am generally at work about this 
time and Mina probably knows what she is 
doing. Perhaps she is busy with her teacher. 
Cornelli has been alone so much that she could 
not get very sociable. That is why I am so 
grateful to you both for coming. I am so glad 
she can at last be in the environment I have 
always wanted for her. But what could I do? 
I have twice taken governesses into the house, 
to supply her with proper intercourse and op- 
portunity for study. The first ran away be- 
64 , 


NEW APPEARANCES 


cause she could not stand the solitude. The 
second wanted every servant to leave who had 
been here before her; Esther was to go, and 
even Matthew. She told me that I had to 
choose between her and the 4 old house-rats,’ 
as she called them. 

4 4 1 showed no desire to send either of them 
away, and said to her : 4 It is better for you to 
go, for when the two have departed, it will 
probably be my turn next, as I shall be the 
oldest house-rat left.’ After that she departed 
and I had no more courage to go through an- 
other experience. But I knew that it was time 
for Cornelli to have a lady of refinement and 
culture with her. I am sure, dear cousin, that 
you can give me some good advice as to her 
education, as soon as you have become ac- 
quainted with her.” 

44 1 should like to know whom she re- 
sembles,” said Miss Dorner; 44 she does not 
seem to resemble either you or your late wife.” 

44 Do you think so?” replied the father 
quickly. 44 Do you really think so? The child 
certainly does not need to resemble me, but I 
have always hoped that she resembled her 
5 65 


CORNELLI 


mother. I always hoped that this would in- 
crease with the years and that she would grow 
up to be my wife’s image. Do you not think 
that she has Cornelia’s eyes? I think that my 
child’s rather straggly mane will in time re- 
semble my Cornelia’s beautiful brown hair ; the 
child’s hair is very thick and has just the 
same color.” 

The Director looked imploringly at his 
cousin. He seemed anxious for her to agree 
with him. 

Shrugging her shoulders, she replied : “ I 
certainly see no resemblance between the 
tousled looking small savage and Cornelia. 
The latter always was so lovely in her exquisite 
neatness. Her eyes always glowed with hap- 
piness and seemed to smile at one from under 
her beautiful, wavy brown hair. I am sorry to 
tell you that your child is not exactly engag- 
ing; she resembles a wild and furious little kit- 
ten with bristling hair. She seems to me to be 
always making a round back ; she looks as if she 
wanted to jump at one and scratch.” 

“ No, no, she does not do that,” the Director 
assured. “ The child is not in the least ill- 
66 


NEW APPEARANCES 


natured, at least, I do not think so. But I am 
afraid that you are right in saying that she 
does not resemble her mother in the least. Her 
education, I mean her lack of education, may 
have something to do with it. That is why I 
am so grateful to you both for coming here. I 
am sure that with your influence the child will 
change and gain much, and I do not think that 
it will be hard for Cornelli to learn. 

“ I can travel now with a light heart, 
cousin, for I know that I can leave my child, 
the house and the servants in your care. You 
do not know in what a difficult position I am 
sometimes. I ought to go away frequently, and 
am not able to do so because there is nobody to 
take care of the house for me. The servants 
have to be kept in good humor, and the house 
has to be ruled with authority and judgment. 
I cannot thank you enough for making this 
trip possible for me.” 

When they had returned from their walk 
they separated. Mr. Hellmut had still plenty 
of preparations to make for his journey, and 
the ladies retired to their rooms to get settled 
there. At supper everybody met again. The 
67 


CORNELLI 


ladies and their host appeared punctually and 
dinner was served at once. 

“ Where is your daughter? Does she not 
come to supper, too? ” asked Miss Dorner. 

46 Yes, of course. Do you know where she 
is. Miss Mina? ” the father asked. 

At that moment the door opened and Cor- 
nelli, with cheeks aglow, ran into the room. She 
sat down quickly at her seat. 

44 Did you creep through a hedge? ” the 
cousin asked her. 

44 No, I was in the hen house/’ replied 
Cornelli. 

44 That is no reason to look the way you do. 
Go to your room first and have your hair 
combed by Miss Mina. She will also give you 
some soap, for this is quite necessary.” 

Cornelli glanced at her father. This was 
something new and she waited for his approval. 

44 Quickly, Cornelli ! Why do you hesi- 
tate? ” he admonished her. 44 You have to obey 
your cousin absolutely, for she is taking my 
place now. I hope that everybody here under- 
stands that clearly,” he added with a glance at 
Miss Mina. 


68 


NEW APPEARANCES 


The latter wanted to follow the child, but 
Cornelli called back: “ I can do it myself.” 

When the child came back her face and 
hands were washed very thoroughly, but her 
hair looked most peculiar. She had combed it 
in such a way that one could not tell what be- 
longed to the left and what to the right side, 
what to the front and what to the back. 

The cousin laughed and said: “ Your head 
looks like a wind-blown hay field. To-morrow 
Miss Mina will part your hair properly 
for you.” 

Cornelli frowned so deeply that her eyes 
came quite close together. She did not look up 
any more from her plate. 

Next day quite early the Director departed. 

The village of Iller- Stream, where the 
church and the school house were, was quite a 
distance from the iron works. Cornelli could 
not go to school there every day because it was 
much too far. She therefore had lessons at 
home, and the teacher her father had chosen 
came every morning and taught her in all the 
necessary subjects. In the afternoon she was 
free, except for the work which she had to do 
69 


CORNELLI 


for the following day. That took little time 
and till now the child had really had a very 
free existence. She had always found time for 
a daily visit to Martha and a long conversation 
with her old friend. She could also wander 
freely about the lovely beech wood and along 
the mountain side. Her time was never par- 
celled out for her. 

There were many wonderful things to find 
in the fields and woods, and Cornelli never 
tired of them as long as the sun was shining. 
If rain or snow prevented her from her strolls, 
she spent her afternoons in Martha’s cosy 
chamber. There she had the most pleasant 
times, for the old woman’s conversation and 
tales were for Cornelli a never ending source 
of enjoyment. 

The teacher had just left the house. Owing 
to her father’s departure, there had been plenty 
of material for sentences in her grammar les- 
son. All the child’s answers to his questions 
had come so promptly to-day that the teacher 
had ended his lesson on the stroke of the hour. 
He also gave Cornelli special praise for the 
excellent work she had done. Then he heartily 
shook her hand. 


70 


NEW APPEARANCES 


The two were the best of friends and the 
teacher knew his pupil well. Whenever she 
was very bright and lively, he would work very 
hard with her and in a short time accomplish 
three times more than usual. In order not to 
spoil their mutual pleasure he would let her off 
most punctually. But whenever Cornelli was 
absent-minded and unwilling to work, he pro- 
gressed slowly and carefully, treating her as if 
she were the least bit weak minded. 

He would keep up this procedure till the 
hand of the clock showed a quarter, a half, or 
even three-quarters of an hour more than the 
set time for the lessons. Then Cornelli had 
hardly more than a quarter of an hour’s time 
before lunch to run over to the garden, the 
stable and the hen house, something she always 
planned to do. The teacher would finally stop 
and say in his most friendly manner : “ I had 
to stay so long to-day because we did not do 
half of what we should have done. You were a 
little slow in understanding, Cornelli. I hope 
it will go better to-morrow, otherwise your les- 
son might last still longer.” 

It always went much better after that, for 
71 


CORNELLI 


Cornelli had no inclination whatever to have 
such a tiresome performance repeated. After 
such a lesson many days went by before she was 
lazy again. To-day Cornelli had worked 
quickly and well, for she wanted to have lots 
of free time before lunch. She had not had 
time to see the little kid since yesterday. The 
lesson over, she flew to the stable. Lunch was 
set for one o’clock, so there was a whole hour 
left. Matthew spied the approaching child 
and called to her: “ Come here, Cornelli! It is 
just jumping around.” 

Cornelli ran into the stable, where she saw 
the snow-white kid, hopping merrily over to its 
mother and then back again to the hay. It 
looked so cunning in its gambols that Cornelli 
went into perfect raptures. 

“ Oh, you darling little thing! ” she called 
out, patting its spotless fur; “ I shall fetch a 
red ribbon for your neck and then we’ll take a 
walk together.” The child accordingly ran 
back to the house, and hunting about among 
her things, soon returned with a bright red rib- 
bon which she tied about the little kid’s neck. 
Cornelli was perfectly delighted, for she had 
72 



SHE SOON RETURNED WITH A BRIGHT RED RIBBON WHICH SHE TIED ABOUT THE 

LITTLE KID’S NECK 




NEW APPEARANCES 


never in her life seen a prettier object than the 
little creature with its snow-white fur and the 
red ribbon round its neck, skipping lightly 
about. The next moment it lay down in the 
hay and looked up happily at Cornelli. 

“ Can I take it out for a walk, Matthew? 
Can I harness it to a little wagon and drive 
around with it? ” asked the child. She had 
many plans in her head, one following on top 
of the other. 

“ Wait, wait; we have to let it grow first,” 
replied Matthew thoughtfully. “ The most 
important thing for it is to grow, for it is like 
a baby that has just learned how to walk. It 
has to stay near its mother and can only run 
about near her. When it is bigger, it can take 
walks, and when it is strong and big we can 
harness it and you can drive it about with two 
reins in one hand and a long whip in the other.” 

Cornelli shouted with joy and patted the 
kid with new tenderness. She already pictured 
to herself the lovely drives that they would 
have together. 

“ Did you hear the bell in the foundry? I 
am sure it must be time for dinner. You will 
73 


CORNELLI 


have to be a little careful now, Cornelli. Re- 
member that strange ladies are in the house,” 
said old Matthew with foresight. “ You can 
come again this afternoon.” 

Cornelli had really heard nothing, for she 
had been absorbed in her new pet. She knew 
that she ought to appear punctually at her 
meals, so she left right away. She had also 
noticed that the ladies were not buried behind 
big newspapers, like her father. While run- 
ning to the house, she passed a hydrant. There 
she remembered that she had to wash her hands, 
so she held them both under the pipe and rubbed 
them hard. Then dipping her face in, she 
rubbed it, too. She had nothing to dry herself 
with except a very small handkerchief. 

“Hurry up! The ladies are already at 
table,” she heard Esther’s voice urging her 
from the kitchen window. 

Cornelli ran in and saw both ladies already 
seated at the table. In front of her was a full 
soup plate. 

“ You have to come punctually to your 
meals. I am sure that you can hear the loud 
bell out in the garden,” said the cousin. “ But 
74 


NEW APPEARANCES 


how strange you look! Half wet arms, a soak- 
ing apron and damp feet. Have you been in 
the water, or what have you done? ” 

“ I washed my hands under the water pump 
and I got splashed,” Cornelli answered. 

“ Naturally,” remarked Miss Dorner. 
“ There are arrangements in the rooms for 
washing hands, which involve no splashing. 
Go, now, and put on another apron. You 
have to be orderly and neat at mealtimes.” 

Cornelli departed. 

“ The child certainly obeys you — that is 
something,” said Miss Grideelen. “ Since you 
told her to, she always comes to table 
properly washed.” 

“ That is true. But she has the most un- 
heard-of manners,” replied Miss Dorner. 
“ How shall one get rid of those and start the 
child on the right path? I must ask you to 
help her in the morning, Miss Mina. Please 
comb her hair smoothly and part it the way I 
told you to.” 

“ I did it, Miss Dorner, and I do it every 
morning,” she answered, quite hurt. “ Cor- 
nells hair is just like bristles and it is very 
75 


CORNELL! 


hard to braid. When she jumps it all gets 
tangled again and she jumps every moment.” 

Cornelli now came back and ate her soup. 
Her seat was beside her cousin and faced the 
other lady. 

“What is sticking to your dress here?” 
asked Miss Dorner, looking with disgust at the 
little skirt. Something was really hanging 
from the bottom. “ Can this be hay or straw? 
It certainly does not look orderly. I hope you 
have not come from the stable ! ” 

“ Yes, I have,” replied Cornelli. 

“How horrid! Indeed, I can even smell 
it. That is too much! ” she exclaimed. “ I am 
sure your father would not let you go there if 
he knew about it.” 

“ Oh, certainly; he goes himself,” Cornelli 
retorted. 

“ Do not reply impertinently. In the case 
of your father it is quite different,” explained 
Miss Dorner. “ I want to tell you something 
which you must remember. If you are allowed 
to go to the stable and you enjoy doing it, you 
can go. But when afterwards you come to 
your meals, you must first go to your room. 

76 


NEW APPEARANCES 


Get properly washed there and also change 
your dress. Be sure not to forget.” 

“ Yes,” replied Cornelli. 

“It is very strange what queer pleasures 
country children have,” remarked Miss Gri- 
deelen. “ Have you no books, Cornelli? Don’t 
you like reading better than wandering around 
and going to the stable? ” 

“ Oh no, I don’t like it better, but I have 
some books,” replied the child. 

“ What are you going to do in the after- 
noon, when you have no more lessons to study?” 
asked Miss Dorner. 

“ I always go to Martha,” was the reply. 

“ Who is Martha? ” inquired the cousin. 

“ A woman,” said Cornelli. 

“ I can guess that,” replied the cousin. 
“ But what kind of a woman is she? ” 

“ A good one,” answered Cornelli quickly. 

“ What an answer ! ” The cousin turned 
now to Miss Mina: “ Who is this woman? Can 
the child go to see her? Does anybody here 
know about her ? ” she questioned. 

“ Oh yes, she is well known here and was 
here long before I came,” was Mina’s reply. 

77 


CORNELLI 


“ She nursed the mistress of this house in her 
last illness. She is a very good woman and 
always looks neat and clean. Our master likes 
her well.” 

“Now I have really found out something! 
You must learn to give proper answers, Cor- 
nelli, do you hear? ” said the cousin. “ You are 
like a wild hare which does everything in leaps 
and bounds. You can go to see the woman 
after finishing your work for your teacher. I am 
sure you must have some to do for to-morrow.” 

Cornelli assented to this, and as soon as the 
ladies had left the room to retire to their bed- 
rooms for the hottest hours of the day, she sat 
down at her little table in the corner. Here 
she wrote down a page with lightning speed, 
then taking up her book she read her lesson 
over and over again till she knew it by heart. 
Soon she was finished, and flinging the books 
into the drawer, she ran out of the house. 

“ Oh, Martha, I wish you knew how terrible 
it is at home now since Papa has gone,” called 
Cornelli to her old friend, before she had even 

reached the top of the stairs. “ I just wish 
78 


NEW APPEARANCES 


Papa was back already and everything was 
again as before.” 

“ What is it, Cornelli, what makes you so 
cross ? Come, sit down here a while and tell me 
about it,” said Martha kindly. She put a chair 
beside her own at the table where her mending 
lay neatly sorted out. 

“Of course, you can’t understand it, 
Martha,” Cornelli continued, just as excited 
as before. “ Here with you everything is al- 
ways the same and nobody comes and orders 
everything to be changed. Now, I am not 
allowed to come in any more without getting 
washed; now, I cannot come out of the stable 
without changing my clothes. Then I must 
not wash my hands at the hydrant because I 
get splashed, and, oh, so many new things have 
to be done; so different from before.” 

“ I am sure, Cornelli, that it is not at all 
bad that things should not always be the way 
they were before,” asid Martha reflectively. 
“ I believe that the lady who is related to you 
wants the same thing from you that your 
mother would have wished had she lived. This 
is very good for you. Of course, Miss Mina 
79 


CORNELLI 


and Esther mean well, but your relation knows 
much better what is to be done to make you 
grow up the way your mother would have 
desired. Just think how happy your father 
would be if you should resemble your mother 
and he be reminded of her every time he looked 
at you. You well know what great joy that 
would be to him.” 

Cornelli did know that her father would be 
very happy then, for he had made many re- 
marks which she had understood. A short time 
ago he had said that his cousin found no like- 
ness between his child and her mother, and Cor- 
nelli had observed the sad expression of his 
eyes when he had said it. 

Cornelli shook her head. “You said once 
that my mother was different from anybody,” 
she said. “ So I can’t ever be like her ; you said 
so yourself, Martha.” 

“ Yes, yes, I have said that,” confirmed 
Martha. “ But I have to explain something 
to you, Cornelli. If you can’t become exactly 
like your mother, you certainly can become 
more like her than anybody else, for you are 

her child, and a child always has something 
80 


NEW APPEARANCES 


from her mother. I have seen you look at me 
just the way she did, with the same brown 
eyes ; but not when you frown the way you do 
to-day. You must try to watch the two ladies 
very carefully in all they do and in the way 
they speak. They are your mother’s kind, and 
that is why I am so glad that you can watch 
their manners and can try to imitate them. 
You can learn to resemble your mother in your 
ways, if you copy the ladies.” 

“ Yes, I shall do that,” agreed Cornelli. 
“ Just the same, I am not terribly pleased that 
they are here and that everything has to be 
changed. Oh dear, I have just remembered 
that I have to be back now and drink some hot 
coffee and milk, because Miss Dorner says that 
the afternoons are so frightfully long in the 
country they have to be interrupted. At that 
time I always used to get from the garden some 
apples or cherries or whatever else there was, 
and they always tasted so awfully good. If I 
only could lengthen my afternoon, which seems 
too long to them ! I never can do all I plan to 
do. Good-bye, Martha.” 

And with these words Cornelli ran away. 

6 


CHAPTER IV 


THE UNWISHED-FOR HAPPENS 

E STHER, the able mistress of the kitchen, 
was standing in the garden picking 
green peas, which hung in clusters 
from the vines. They had ripened quickly in 
the sunny June weather. 

“Come down here, Cornelli!” she called. 
“ Just see how many peas there are! Why do 
you steal about so quietly nowadays, and why 
don’t you run the way you used to? ” 

“ I am not allowed to do anything any 
more,” replied Cornelli, approaching her. 
“ Mina is beginning to tell me that I even must 
not jump, for it might tangle my hair. I wish 
I had not a single hair left ; then I could at least 
run and jump about.” 

“ No, no, child; that would look too dread- 
ful. Just imagine it! But don’t get sad on 
account of that,” Esther consoled her. “ Just 
jump around as before ! Your hair can always 
be put in order again. Why haven’t you come 
82 


THE UNWISHED-FOR HAPPENS 


into the kitchen lately to see if things 
taste right? ” 

“ I am not allowed to ; Miss Dorner says 
that is bad manners/’ Cornelli informed her. 

“ Oh, I see! Well, you might do worse 
things. However, you must obey! Yes, you 
have to obey/’ Esther repeated. “ Don’t you 
go to Miss Mina any more, either, when she 
fixes the dessert? ” 

Cornelli shook her head. 

Miss Mina had quickly understood the new 
order that had begun in the household and ac- 
cordingly had suited herself to it. When she 
thought the ladies would not approve of an old 
custom, she dropped it quickly, and Cornelli 
had soon noticed her change of attitude. 

“ I don’t care if I never can go to the pantry 
any more, I don’t care,” Cornelli exploded 
now. “ She can eat all the things herself which 
drop beside the plate. I don’t care. I don’t 
want anything as long as I can go to the little 
kid in the stable; it really is the most cunning 
creature in the whole world. Have you seen 
it yet, Esther? ” 

“ Certainly I have, and why not? ” the cook 
83 


CORNELLI 


replied. “ Matthew took me out to the stable 
as soon as it was born. You can certainly go 
to see it as long as it is in our own stable. Just 
go there as much as you like I Nobody can for- 
bid you that.” 

“ My teacher is coming,” Cornelli now ex- 
claimed, 4 4 and I have to go.” 

44 Yes, child, but do keep up your spirits. 
There are lots of pleasant things still left for 
you to enjoy. Just wait till you taste the 
strawberry tarts I am going to make to-day.” 

With these words Esther smacked her 
lips to express the great succulence of the 
promised dish. 

44 1 wouldn’t even care if you baked nettle 
tarts ; I wish I didn’t have to eat at table and 
could just eat berries in the garden and drink 
milk in the stable.” 

Cornelli ran towards the house, for she had 
forgotten to walk sedately, as she had been 
told to do. 

While Cornelli had her lessons upstairs in 
the living room, in the jessamine arbor both 
ladies were sitting on a garden bench. 

44 It would be so pleasant and agreeable 

84 


THE UNWISHED-FOR HAPPENS 


here,” said Miss Dorner, “ and my cousin could 
have such a very charming life, if the child were 
only a little different. Don’t you think, Betty, 
that she has no manners whatever? ” 

“ Yes, but she has had no training at all,” 
remarked Miss Grideelen; “ and she may have 
inherited some qualities from her mother.” 

“ Oh no, not a single trait! You cannot 
possibly imagine a greater difference than be- 
tween the mother and this child,” Miss Dorner 
exclaimed. “ Cornelia was full of amiability 
and gayety. She always greeted and cheered 
everyone with her laughing brown eyes. If my 
cousin could only have the happiness to see his 
child resemble her mother the slightest bit ! He 
was so fond of his wife! He deserves this joy, 
for he is a splendid man.” 

“It is curious how very different children 
can be from their parents,” said Miss Gridee- 
len with regret in her voice. “ But I am sure 
that something can still be accomplished by 
educating the child. Many qualities can be 
developed that hardly show themselves yet. 
We ought to do our best for her, especially for 
her father’s sake.” 


85 


CORNELLI 


“ That is just what I am doing, Betty. 
Unfortunately, I have had very little success as 
yet,” answered Miss Dorner. “ But I just 
hope that the day will come when I can write 
her father some pleasant news about Cornelli, 
something different from what I feel obliged 
to send him now.” 

The day had been exceedingly hot, and the 
ladies retired to their rooms immediately after 
dinner, while Cornelli, according to her cus- 
tom, obediently did her lessons. Then she dis- 
appeared. In the late evening, when the ladies 
sat down to supper, it was so warm that Miss 
Mina was ordered to open all the windows. 

Now Cornelli entered. 

“ For mercy’s sake, what are you thinking 
of! ” the cousin accosted the child. “ We are 
nearly perishing with the heat and you put on a 
fur dress, which you could wear without a coat 
in a sleigh ride in the middle of winter. Why 
do you do such foolish things? ” 

Cornelli was really attired very strangely. 
Her little dress was made of such heavy, fur- 
like material that one could see it was meant 

for the coldest winter weather, and for some- 
86 


THE UNWISHED-FOR HAPPENS 


one who disliked much outer clothing. The 
child’s cheeks were glowing red, and from the 
insufferable heat whole streams of perspiration 
trickled down her face. 

“ I have no more dresses left,” she said 
stubbornly. 

“ Can you understand it? ” asked the 
cousin, looking at her friend. 

“ I really think that this is the fifth dress in 
which I have seen Cornelli to-day,” answered 
the friend. “ In the early morning I saw her 
running across the yard in a dark dress. At 
breakfast she wore a light frock and for lunch 
a red one. I believe that she wore a blue dress 
when we had our coffee this afternoon, so 
this must be the fifth costume. I was be- 
ginning at lunch time to wonder about the 
frequent changes.” 

“ I have to change my dress every time I 
go to the stable,” Cornelli said, a little more 
stubbornly than before. 

“How can anybody be so foolish!” ex- 
claimed the cousin now. “ I can understand 
now why you have no fun and why you always 
wear an unhappy face. You must be nearly 
87 


CORNELLI 


perished with the heat! Finish your supper 
quickly and then go to your room and take off 
this heavy dress. You surely have another 
dress. I must forbid you to go to the stable 
from now on! You can see for yourself what 
comes of it! If only you would not frown like 
this, Cornelli. You look exactly as if you had 
two little horns growing on your forehead, one 
on each side. There are many other and better 
amusements for you than spending your life in 
the stable. Are you able to embroider? ” 

“ No,” Cornelli answered curtly. 

“ Children of your age ought to be able to, 
though,” said the cousin. “ But we have not 
come here to teach you that; have we, Betty? 
You probably do not even know how to hold 
the needle in your hand.” 

“ Why should it be necessary for Cornelli 
to learn embroidery just now? ” replied the 
friend. “ She has lovely books that she can 
read ; she has shown us some herself. Don’t you 
prefer reading a pretty story to running about 
in the stable, child? ” 

“No, I don’t,” replied Cornelli crossly. 

“ We must not pay attention to what she 
88 


THE UNWISHED-FOR HAPPENS 


says,” remarked Miss Dorner. “ When Cor- 
nelli is bored, she will probably turn to her 
books herself. Please, Miss Mina, keep an eye 
on Cornelli. Nonsense like this must not hap- 
pen any more.” 

When supper was finished, Cornelli went 
up to her room, and Miss Mina followed her. 

“You certainly don’t need to do such silly 
things,” she said scoldingly, as soon as they 
were on the stairs, where her words could not 
be overheard. “ I have enough to do nowadays 
without watching whether you put on a new 
dress every few hours.” 

“ It isn’t my fault,” Cornelli replied mo- 
rosely. “ They ordered me to do it.” 

“ They won’t always smell it when you 
have been to the stable,” scolded Miss Mina. 

“ Yes, but they do smell it,” Cornelli re- 
torted, “ and even if they didn’t, I should have 
to obey. They told me to change every time I 
go to the stable.” 

“ Yes, but now you are told not to go there 
any more, remember that! — so your frequent 

changing will have to stop,” grumbled Miss 
89 


CORNELLI 


Mina, while she was helping Cornelli to take 
off her hot dress. 

“Now I have to clean it, besides! You 
actually give more work than six well brought 
up children.” Miss Mina had never before 
spoken so roughly to Cornelli, for she had al- 
ways been anxious to keep in the child’s good 
graces. But she had suddenly ceased to care 
about that. 

Cornelli looked at her with astonishment. 
The child’s eyes were also full of something 
that nobody had ever seen there before. Mina 
seemed to understand: “ I did not do you any 
harm,” she said quickly; “ what I have said is 
only the truth.” With that she left the room. 

“If everybody treats me that way I’ll be 
that way, too,” cried Cornelli with a furious 
look. Suddenly taking hold of the dress she had 
just taken off she threw it out of the window. 
After a while Mina returned, bringing back 
the dress. Cornelli was sitting on the window- 
sill crossly looking down at the yard. 

“ Look out that the wind doesn’t blow you 
down, too, like your dress,” Miss Mina 
said unpleasantly. 


90 


THE UNWISHED-FOR HAPPENS 


“ I don’t care,” Cornelli replied obstinately. 
“ It did not blow down at all, for I threw it 
down on purpose.” 

“ Oh, is this the way you behave? Next 
time you can get it yourself,” said Miss Mina, 
running away indignantly. 

Next morning Cornelli was walking across 
the courtyard, happily talking to her teacher, 
whose hand she was holding. During her 
school hours she had forgotten all the troubles 
of the day before, for Mr. Maelinger had been 
as kind to her as ever. He at least had 
not changed. 

“Could you give me a little rose?” he 
asked smilingly, while they were passing the 
blooming rose bushes. So Cornelli quickly ran 
from bush to bush till she had gathered a fine 
bunch of dark and light, white and red roses. 
These she offered to her teacher, warning him 
not to prick himself. Then the two parted 
most cordially. 

Cornelli, on coming back, ran swiftly to- 
ward the stable. Suddenly, however, she stood 
stock still, for she remembered that she was not 
allowed to go there any more. N o longer could 
91 


CORNELLI 


she see the darling little kid and watch its 
growth. She would be unable to tell when the 
moment had come for it to be hitched to a car- 
riage to be driven about by her. She might not 
be allowed even to do that! She hoped, how- 
ever, that her father might be back by that time 
and that then everything would be different. 
Cornelli danced with joy at that thought, and 
her old gaiety seemed to return. She felt like 
going to Esther and talking it all over with her 
good old friend. The moment the child went 
into the house, Miss Dorner stepped out of the 
living room. 

“ You have just come in time,” she said, 
“ for I have to show you something. Where 
are you going? ” 

“ To the kitchen,” replied Cornelli. 

“ You have nothing whatever to do in the 
kitchen and you shall not go there. I thought 
you knew that you have to go upstairs before 
lunch to fix your hair. But before you go up 
come in here. I have to tell you something 
very important.” 

Cornelli followed her cousin into the room. 
Miss Grideelen was standing near the window 
92 


THE UNWISHEB-FOR HAPPENS 


as if she had expected the return of her friend. 
Leading Cornelli to the sofa. Miss Horner 
pointed to it, saying: “ You are sure to know 
who has done this and you had better tell me 
right away.” 

On the dark plush coverings were visible 
distinct marks of dusty shoe soles. There was 
no trace of a whole foot, but one could see that 
somebody had trampled on the sofa. 

“ I did not do it,” said Cornelli with 
sparkling eyes. 

“ Who in all the house would have done it 
except you? Please ask yourself that, Cor- 
nelli! There is no question about it at all,” 
said Miss Horner. “ It is probably one of your 
little jokes similar to throwing your dresses 
out of the window. I know all about it. Just 
let me tell you this ! It is the last time that you, 
a girl of ten years old, will show such a terrible 
lack of manners. As long as I am here, you 
shall not do it any more. You really should 
spare your good, sensitive father such behavior.” 

“ I have not done it. No, I did not do it, 
no, no! ” Cornelli cried aloud. 

“ But Cornelli, only reflect! > You are 
9S 


CORNELLI 


blushing and your conscience is giving you 
away,” Miss Grideelen here remarked. “ It 
would be so much better for you to say humbly: 
‘ I have done it and I am sorry; I shall never 
do it again ! 9 ” 

“ No, no! I have not done it. No, no! ” 
Cornelli cried out louder still. Her cheeks were 
glowing red from anger and excitement. 

“ Do not make such a noise,” ordered the 
cousin. “ One might think there was an acci- 
dent. It is not worth while to lose so many 
words. You should not have made things 
worse by denying it ; if you had not, everything 
would be all settled. You have misbehaved 
and you shall not do so any more. Remember !” 

“No, I did not misbehave. No, no! And 
I shall not say yes when it is not true,” Cor- 
nelli now cried, quite beside herself. 

“ Go to your room, Cornelli, and smooth 
out your forehead before you come to dinner. 
Your little horns are protruding quite plainly 
when you act that way. Just look at yourself 
in the mirror and see yourself how repulsive 
you look. If you think that there is anybody 
in the world who can still like you when you 
94 


THE UNWISHED-FOR HAPPENS 


have black horns on your forehead, you are mis- 
taken. Go, now, and return with another face.” 

Cornelli went. 

Reaching her room, Cornelli put her hand 
up to her brow. Right on her forehead were 
two protruding points. Should horns be really 
growing there? The child had a sudden hor- 
rible fright at this thought. She was sure that 
everybody could see them already, for she could 
feel them quite distinctly. She could not stand 
it any longer, so she ran away to old Martha. 

“No, I did not do it, Martha. I never did 
it,” she called out, running into the little room. 
“ When I tell them no, no, they ought to be- 
lieve that I did not do it. I never, never did it. 
They shall know it ! But they won’t believe me 
even if I say it a hundred times and ” 

“ Stop a little, Cornelli ! ” said old Martha 
kindly. “ You see, you are all out of breath. 
Sit down here on your stool and tell me quietly 
what has excited you so. You know that I be- 
lieve your words. I have known you since you 
were small, and I know that what you say 
is true.” 

It was impossible for Cornelli to speak 
95 


CORNELLI 


calmly about what had happened, but it soothed 
her, nevertheless, to be able to pour out her 
heart and to know that Martha believed her. 
She told of the accusation which had been 
brought against her, and how she had not been 
believed despite all her assurances. She was 
certain that both ladies would always believe 
for ever and ever that she had done it and had 
denied it. At this thought Cornelli again be- 
came quite red from excitement and was on 
the point of breaking out again. But Martha 
put her hand on the child’s shoulder, quietly 
restraining her. 

“ No, no, Cornelli, that’s enough,” she said 
soothingly. “ It is only to your advantage that 
it is so and not as they have said. You have 
been accused wrongly and cannot prove it, but 
God knows the truth. He has heard every- 
thing. You can be calm and happy and look 
up to Him with a clear conscience. You can 
say to yourself : ‘ God knows it, and I do not 
need to be afraid or frightened.’ If you had 
really done wrong and had denied it, you would 
have to be afraid that the truth would be re- 
vealed. Then you could not look up calmly to 
96 


THE UNWISHED-FOR HAPPENS 


the sky, for you would be frightened at the 
thought that up there was One who knew 
everything and from whom nothing could be 
hidden. A wrong accusation does not stay with 
us forever. Even if it takes ever so long, it 
generally is revealed in the end, and you cer- 
tainly will not need to bear it in all eternity, 
because God already knows how it is.” 

Cornelli had really grown calm at the 
thought that there was One who knew how it 
all was. When her trouble began to weigh 
upon her, she could always say: “You know it 
all, dear Father in Heaven, You have seen and 
heard everything.” 

“ If He could only tell them! They would 
then know it, too. God could easily do that,” 
Cornelli said. 

“Yes, but that is not the way things hap- 
pen. We do not know better than He 
what is good for us,” Martha said, shaking her 
head quite seriously. “ If we could rule, every- 
thing would come wrong. We never can see 
ahead of the hour and we never know what is 
good for us because the next moment always 
brings something we did not know about. 

7 97 


CORNELLI 


Otherwise we would always be trying to undo 
what we have strained to do the day before; 
we should only make ourselves miserable over 
and over again. But if God ordains anything 
that we do not understand, we must believe 
firmly that something good will come out of it. 
We must be patient, and if our troubles are too 
heavy, we must console ourselves and think: 
God knows what good will come from it. But 
we are forgetting the time, Cornelli. You 
must hurry home to your dinner, now. I am 
afraid it is already late.” 

Cornelli’s black frown had disappeared dur- 
ing Martha’s soothing speech, but now a deep 
shadow flew across her face. 

“ Oh, Martha, if I only did not need to go 
home any more! I hate to go back and sit at 
table. I would not mind dying of hunger, if I 
could only stay here with you.” 

Cornelli, glancing at her home, drew to- 
gether her brows as if she saw something 
frightful there. 

“ But, child, you must not say such things 
about your lovely home ; it is wrong to do that,” 
said Martha, kindly admonishing her. “ Just 
98 


THE UNWISHED-FOR HAPPENS 


think how many children have no home at all. 
How grateful they would be to God for a home 
like yours. Go, now, Cornelli, be grateful for 
all God has given you and chase away the 
thoughts that make you sad. Come soon again 
and we shall be glad together, for there is al- 
ways something to be glad about.” 

Cornelli went. While she had been with 
Martha and had heard her words, it had really 
seemed to her that there was no cause for grief. 
As soon, however, as she entered the garden 
and saw the windows of the room where they 
were surely already at table, everything that 
had pressed heavily on her heart rose again. 
After all, Martha did not know everything. 

Cornelli was sure that she could never be 
happy any more. She could not go in there 
and she could not eat. She felt as if she could 
not swallow anything, for big stones seemed to 
stick in her throat. If she would only die from 
it all! Cornelli thought that that would be 
best, for then everything would be over. So 
she sat down on the lawn behind the thick cur- 
rant bushes, where she could not be seen from 
the house. Meanwhile, Miss Mina had carried 
99 


CORNELL! 


away the sweets and was putting the fruit 
course on the table. 

“ It seems to me that Cornelli does not 
care if she comes to table a whole hour late,” 
said Miss Dorner. “ Nothing is to be kept 
warm for her, for she does not seem to have 
learned yet how to respect time and order. She 
had better learn it soon.” 

Mina went out to sit down for her dinner. 
Esther had everything ready and was just put- 
ting the dessert in the cupboard. 

“ That is for Cornelli as soon as she 
comes home,” she said, sitting down, too; “ the 
poor child gets enough bitter things to 
swallow nowadays.” 

“But why shouldn’t she come in time?” 
asked Mina crossly. “ Besides, she couldn’t 
possibly eat the whole dessert. We can take 
our share and there will be enough left, surely 
as much as is good for her.” 

“ I won’t let you have it,” said Esther, 
firmly pressing her arm to the table as a sign 
that she would stay there. “ The child must 
have something that will help her to swallow all 
the cross words she hears all day,” she con- 
100 


THE UNWISHED-FOR HAPPENS 


tinued. “ What was wrong again this morn- 
ing, when there was such a scene in the 
living room? ” 

“ It was nothing,” rephed Mina. “ There 
were a few marks of dust on the sofa, and the 
ladies thought that Cornelli had been standing 
on it. The child would not admit it and so the 
ladies kept on accusing her till Cornelli set up 
a senseless row.” 

“ I really think, Miss Mina, that you could 
have given an explanation,” said Esther with 
a sly smile. “If one has to wind up the clock, 
it is quicker to jump up on the sofa than to push 
the heavy thing away. When one wears tight 
lace boots in the early morning, one can’t take 
them off easily, eh, Miss Mina? ” With these 
words Esther glanced at the neat little boots 
that Mina was stretching out comfortably 
under the table. 

“ Well, what was there so terrible about 
that? ” retorted Mina pertly. “ The sofa won’t 
be spoiled on account of that, and besides, I 
have to clean it myself.” 

“ I only think you could have said a word, 

before the ladies accused the child of having 
101 


CORNELL! 


lied to them and before she nearly had a fit over 
the injustice. She made such a noise that one 
could hear it all over the house! It went right 
through me.” 

“ Oh, pooh! it was not as bad as that,” as- 
serted Mina; “ the child has long since forgot- 
ten the whole thing. That is the way with 
children. One moment they make a horrible 
noise and the next they go out of the door and 
forget about it. Why should one bother? ” 

“ It used to be different,” said Esther smil- 
ingly, “ Miss Mina could not be obliging 
enough to the child then. Things are all done 
for other people now and not for those of 
the house.” 

“Those of the house!” repeated Mina 
mockingly. “ It won’t be long before you, too, 
will be singing another tune. When the new 
lady of the house gives orders in the kitchen 
you will have to obey, too.” 

Esther dropped her spoon. “ For good- 
ness sake, what are you saying? ” she ex- 
claimed. “ Who should have thought of such 
a thing? Whom do you mean, the cousin or 
the other one? ” 


102 


THE UNWISHED-FOP HAPPENS 


“ Well, I can’t tell that exactly,” replied 
the maid. “ Our master has not discussed that 
with me, but one must be dumb not to see what 
is going on and why the ladies came here. After 
all, one wants to know what one is going to do. 
That two have come, is the surest sign of all, for 
we shall be supposed not to suspect.” 

“ For goodness sake,” said Esther again, 
“ what a discovery ! I am sure it must be the 
relation, for she already rules the house. I tell 
you one thing, though, Miss Mina, that I shall 
keep on singing the same tune I have been 
singing for the last twelve years in this house, 
and I don’t care who is going to rule. You can 
believe me.” 

“ Oh, we shall see about that, Esther,” said 
Mina with a superior air. She got up, now, to 
see if the ladies needed anything. 

Waking up from a sound sleep, Cornelli 
did not remember where she was. She was 
lying on the lawn behind the currant bushes. 
She remembered at last how she had come back 
at lunch time from Martha’s cottage and how 
she had suddenly felt weary and sleepy. She 

must have dropped down and gone to sleep. 

103 


CORNELL! 


It was evening and there was no more sun- 
shine on the grass, but the sky was still light, 
although it was beginning to grow dark. Cor- 
nelli suddenly had a longing she had never 
known before. She felt as if she had to eat 
and taste everything about her, the bushes and 
the leaves, the flowers, and especially the un- 
ripe plums on the tree above her. Oh, if she 
only had a piece of bread! Cornelli got up 
quickly and ran towards the house. 

“ Come quickly, Cornelli,” Esther called 
to her through the open kitchen window ; “ they 
are just sitting down to supper; you have come 
just in time.” 

Cornelli flew to her room and, pulling out a 
thick shawl from among her things, tied it 
around her head. Then, running to the dining 
room, she sat down at her accustomed seat. 

“ So you have come again,” said Miss Dor- 
ner, who had just settled down, too. “ A well 
brought up child should at least say good 
evening when she enters the room after a 
long absence.” 

“ Good evening,” said Cornelli, after which 
she finished her soup with unusual haste. 

104 


THE UNWISHED-FOR HAPPENS 


“ Where do you come from after all this 
time? ” asked the cousin. 

“ From the garden,” was the reply. 

“ That is quite possible, but where were you 
before that? ” 

“ With Martha,” Cornelli answered. 

“If you could only learn to answer more 
pleasantly!” remarked Miss Dorner, “it 
would be to your own advantage, for you do 
not have many pleasing things about you; it 
would only make you more attractive, and you 
really should strive to become so. 

“ Next time you want to stay so long at this 
woman’s house you have to ask my permission. 
I absolutely forbid you to stay away so long 
without asking me, do you hear? You deserve 
to be scolded for your long absence to-day, but 
I shall not say anything further. But why do 
you look so pitiful! What is the matter? Have 
you a toothache? ” 

“ No,” Cornelli quickly gave forth. 

“ Have you a headache? ” 

“ No.” 

“ What is the matter with you? ” 

“ Nothing.” 


105 


CORNELL! 


“ You shall never again set up such a mas- 
querade when there is nothing the matter with 
you, Cornelli,” said the cousin scoldingly. 
“Why do you put this shawl around your 
head? Are you trying to look like an untidy 
gypsy? Don’t ever come to table that way 
again! Betty, have you ever seen the like? 
Can you understand this behavior from a 
sensible child? ” 

The friend just shook her head. 

“ Perhaps Cornelli does it because she does 
not know what else to do. She does not seem 
to desire a proper occupation,” she replied. 

When Cornelli came down to breakfast 
next day, she had taken off the shawl, but she 
still looked very odd. 

“You look exactly like a savage from New 
Zealand,” said the cousin. “Do you think 
you are improving your appearance by plas- 
tering your hair all over your face? ” 

“ No,” said Cornelli fiercely. 

“ Neither do I,” said the cousin. “ I can- 
not make you out at all. What will you 
put on next, I wonder, when your hair is 
brushed away? ” 


106 


THE UNWISHED-FOR HAPPENS 


“ My fur cap,” replied Cornelli, according 
to the truth. 

“ I never heard such nonsense,” exclaimed 
Miss Corner. “ I really think that the child 
is capable of doing that. She will probably 
pull it down over her head to her nose when the 
temperature is eighty. I have never seen such 
a child. What shall I do with her? ” 

Cornelli really looked as if she did not know 
how well brought up European girls usually 
wore their hair. From the middle of her head 
thick uneven strands of dark hair hung down 
over her forehead and deep into her eyes. The 
hair was not hanging loose, but was firmly 
glued to her skin. Her intention seemed to be 
to keep it there to prevent it from being 
blown away. 

“ You look positively repulsive and no per- 
son on earth will want to look at you if you go 
around like that. This may teach you to give 
up your terrible obstinacy! Nothing else can 
be done with you.” 

With these words the cousin rose and left 
the room. Miss Grideelen promptly followed. 

That evening a letter was sent to Comelli’s 
father: 


107 


CORNELLI 

Iller-Stream, 

July 20th, 18 — . 

My dear Cousin : 

Your affairs are going brilliantly, for your manager is 
splendid. I can also inform you that perfect order reigns 
in your house, your garden and the stable. Your place 
is perfectly magnificent; it abounds in fruit and vegetables 
and lovely flowers. I should never have imagined this 
possible years ago, when I wandered about here with my 
friend Cornelia. 

I am coming now to the principal subj ect of this letter, 
which is less pleasant. I do not understand how your 
daughter has gotten her disposition. She does not either 
resemble you, with your fresh and open manner, or Cor- 
nelia, with her merry, pliant disposition, which won every 
one’s heart. The child has a dull and sullen nature, a 
roughness of manner and an unheard-of stubbornness. I 
can do nothing for her, at least not by anything I say. 
But I have decided to leave physical or other punishment 
to you. I shall do all I can by good example and admon- 
ishment as long as I am here. My friend is supporting 
me faithfully. I do not dare raise in you the hope that 
the child will ever make you happy. A rebellious nature 
like hers is sure to get worse from year to year. I hope, 
however, that the success of all your ventures will give 
you the satisfaction that your home life cannot give you. 

Your faithful cousin, 


Kitty Dorner.. 

















































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CHAPTER V 


A NEWCOMER IN ILLER-STREAM 

O LD MATTHEW was raking the 
gravel paths in the garden when Cor- 
nelli stepped out of the house and 
slowly approached. She held a book in her 
hand and now sat down on the bench under the 
hazel bush. Laying the book on her lap, she 
watched Matthew while he cleaned up the 
paths. Looking up he said: “ Come with me, 
Cornelli, and let us go over to the stable to- 
gether, for you have not been there for a long 
time. You should see how the little kid 
is growing.” 

Cornelli merely shook her head and gave no 
answer. Matthew looked over at the child a 
few more times, but said no more. 

Esther, carrying a large basket, now ar- 
rived. As she was going to the vegetable gar- 
den she called over to the child: “You must 
have a specially nice book to be sitting there so 
quietly, Cornelli.” 


109 


CORNELL! 


Cornelli shook her head. 

“ No? ” laughed Esther. “ All right, then, 
come with me and I’ll show you how many yel- 
low plums there are going to be this year ; the 
whole tree is full and they are already begin- 
ning to ripen.” 

“ I don’t care,” said Cornelli. 

“ No? ” laughed Esther. “ All right, then, 
plums,” Esther exclaimed. “ And our large 
juicy pears are beginning to get ripe, too. 
Don’t you want to come and see how long it 
will be before they are ripe? ” 

“ No,” was the reply. 

Esther now went her ways. A short time 
after that Matthew joined her. “ What is the 
matter with the child, Esther,” he asked. “ She 
is so changed! One can hardly recognize any 
more our gay and friendly Cornelli. And why 
does she have her hair hanging into her face 
that way? One absolutely does not know her 
any more.” 

“ That is just what I say,” Esther replied. 
“ I really can’t understand it. One hardly ever 
sees the child, and if one does meet her some- 
where, she scarcely says a word. She never 
no 


A NEWCOMER IN ILLER-STREAM 


sings or laughs the way she used to, and she 
always wears such a terribly unhappy expres- 
sion that it fairly makes one’s heart ache. How 
happy the child used to he ! 

“ They say that she needs to be educated, 
and it may be so; but since she is getting an 
education she is absolutely changed, and not 
for the better. However, things may go well 
again when her education is finished.” 

“ She misses her mother,” said Matthew. 
“ It is awfully hard on a little one to grow up 
without a mother, for she needs her at every 
step. It is so easy when you have a mother to 
whom you can tell your joys and troubles.” 

“ One might think that you still run to your 
mother whenever anyone does you harm, 
Matthew,” said Esther, a little mockingly. 

“ I should love to,” Matthew assured her. 
“ I know what my mother meant to me and so 
I am always sorry for every child that has none. 
One can see how it is with our master’s child; 
nothing is of any good to her as long as she has 
no mother.” 

Matthew went away, looking once more 

with pity at Cornelli, who was sitting quite 
ill 


CORNELLI 


motionless on the bench. The book by now 
was lying on the ground. 

Soon afterwards Mr. Maelinger entered 
the garden and neared the house, but Cornelli 
intercepted him. 

“ I could not come at 9 o’clock to-day,” he 
said, “ but I think one hour is better than none, 
so am here now, at 11 o’clock. I hope you have 
spent a pleasant, useful morning.” 

“ No, I haven’t,” said Cornelli drily. 

“But you have a fine book in your hand. 
It is sure to have something nice in it. What 
is it all about? ” 

“ I do not know,” replied Cornelli. 

“ Let us go to our work now. Your read- 
ing does not seem to have impresed you much, 
so let us hope for a better result from 
our lesson.” 

The teacher entered the house with his 
pupil, and they were just getting settled in 
their accustomed places when he said: “It 
seems to me, Cornelli, that your hair hangs a 
little too much over your face. It must be very 
uncomfortable. Could not this be changed? ” 

“No, I can never change that, never, 
112 


A NEWCOMER IN ILLER-STREAM 


never,” Cornelli said passionately, tightly 
pressing down the hair on her forehead. 

“ Oh, really! But this is no affair of mine,” 
said the teacher calmly. 4 4 Only it seems to me 
a rather disfiguring manner of wearing the hair. 
You would feel much more comfortable with- 
out these weeping- willow-like hangings in front 
of your eyes.” 

Cornelli was still pressing both her hands 
against her forehead, as if the teacher might 
try by force to straighten up her hair. But he 
now began the lesson quite peacefully. 

When the ladies were leaving the room 
after lunch, the cousin said to the child: “ You 
are not going to run off again immediately, 
Cornelli. You must begin a proper and 
orderly existence. When your work is done 
you can read one of your many lovely books. 
You have enough time after our coffee hour to 
take walks and to pay visits.” 

As usual the work was soon finished. 
Afterwards Cornelli sat down on the garden 
bench. Just as before, she put the book in her 

lap, and it soon fell to the ground. Cornelli 

s ns 


CORNELLI 


peeped about her, at the trees and at the 
ground, but she did not really seem to see them. 

At coffee time Cornelli punctually appeared 
at table and quickly gulped down everything 
that was poured out for her, as if it were a 
medicine that simply had to be swallowed. 
Afterwards she sat there frowning, for she had 
to remain at her seat till the ladies got up ; she 
had learned this custom from her cousin. 

“ Don’t always frown and make such horns ! 
One can see them quite plainly even through 
your curtains,” said Miss Dorner. “ It won’t 
be long before you can go away.” 

At last the ladies got up to go into the gar- 
den. Cornelli sneaked out behind them, turned 
unseen around the corner of the house, and 
walked across the meadow to the path. 

“ To sit here under the hazel bush and read 
a fine book is really a pleasure not many chil- 
dren have,” said Miss Dorner, sitting down on 
the bench. “ For this alotie you should be 
grateful, instead of frowning and sulking all 

day, Cornelli yes ! But where has she 

gone again?” the lady interrupted herself, 
glancing around. 


114 


A NEWCOMER IN ILLER-STREAM 


“ She disappeared as soon as we came out,” 
her friend answered. “Isn’t Cornelli really 
peculiar? She never says a friendly word and 
never gives a single sign of childish love. She 
always runs away as soon as she possibly can.” 

“ I am so sorry for her father, who must 
long for a pleasant family life,” Miss Dorner 
continued. “ He will never have this by the 
side of his only daughter, who seems to become 
more unfriendly and stubborn every day. 
Others in the house have noticed it, too, so 
Mina tells me. Oh, what a life it will be here 
in two or three years. My poor cousin with his 
beautiful estate! What good is that to him? ” 
“ Many things can happen in two years that 
can’t be foretold, Kitty, and that can change a 
household entirely,” replied the other lady. 
“ For the benefit of your cousin let us hope 
that this may come true.” 

Cornelli was not leaping or running, but 
was quietly creeping along the edge of the path. 
She was staring at the ground, without once 
looking up at the merry birds which were 
whistling above her. Not once did she glance 

Jo right or left in the meadows, though they 
115 


CORNELL! 


were full of red daisies and blue forget-me- 
nots which Cornelli ordinarily loved to pick. 

Martha saw the approaching child. She 
came out with a worried face and full of sym- 
pathy asked: “ What is wrong with you, Cor- 
nelli? Can you never again be merry? ” 

“No, not any more,” replied Cornelli, 
entering Martha’s little chamber and sitting 
down on the stool which her old friend had put 
for her in the usual place. Cornelh’s words 
did not come rapidly and angrily any more, as 
they had done before. With a deep sigh she 
added : “ I only wish I had never learned 
to read.” 

“What! But child, what an idea,” ex- 
claimed Martha, “what a foolish wish! You 
should realize what it means to want to find out 
something and not be able to. One has to begin 
over and over again, and nothing helps one. 
That is what happened to me to-day. If you 
don’t help me I won’t ever understand it. I 
often wish I could read and write as fast as our 
Cornelli does. It is a great gift to be able to 

read and write easily, and everybody who can’t 
116 


A NEWCOMER IN ILLER-STREAM 


do it knows that well. Don’t you like the pretty 
books your father has given you? ” 

“No, I don’t. They are pretty, but aw- 
fully tiresome, Martha,” Cornelli assured her. 
“ There are all kinds of stories and descrip- 
tions in them of famous people and discoveries. 
Father said that he used to love them when he 
was young, but he was probably different from 
me. Now I can’t run to the stable any more, 
nor into the woods as I feel like doing; now I 
have to sit around all the time and read a book. 
Oh, I wish nobody had written any books, then 
nobody would have to read them.” 

“ But Cornelli, I do not think that this 
would suit everybody,” Martha said. “ Please 
help me to read a letter I got to-day, and then 
you will see what an advantage it is to be able 
to read. I need your help, for I do not under- 
stand what is wanted of me.” 

Cornelli, taking up the letter, was quite 
willing to help her dear old friend. 

“ Who wrote it? ” asked the child. 

“ That is just the thing I cannot read,” 

Martha answered. “ I only know that it comes 
117 


CORNELLI 


from town, but I cannot guess who could pos- 
sibly write to me from there.” 

Cornelli began to read the letter aloud. It 
was an inquiry as to whether the spare room 
had yet been taken, and if Mrs. Wolf could 
take care of a boy of twelve years for a few 
weeks. He did not need special care, as he was 
not exactly ill; but the boy undoubtedly was 
not very strong. Good air and fresh milk 
were the chief things he needed. If no 
refusal came, the boy would arrive in the 
middle of July. It was signed; Nika Halm, 
rector’s widow. 

“ Oh, how easily you read. It seems to go 
all of itself,” said Martha admiringly, when 
Cornelli had finished. “ I never could have 
made it out so well. Just think how proud I 
can be that a rector’s wife will bring her son 
to me. Oh, I’ll take the best care of him, and 
I must ask Matthew to let him have some milk 
from the cows every morning and evening. 
Isn’t it too bad it is not a girl ; then you would 
have a playmate. But you will entertain each 
other just the same. Are you not a little bit 
glad that he is coming? ” 

118 


A NEWCOMER IN ILLER-STREAM 


“ No, not a bit,” Cornelli returned curtly. 
“ I know quite well that he won’t have any- 
thing to do with me, and I know why, too. I 
do not care whether it is a boy or a girl. I 
don’t want him.” 

“ But Cornelli, you never used to be that 
way. You used to be so friendly and bright 
with everybody. What has happened to you?” 
asked Martha, quite grieved. “ You do not 
look about you with bright eyes and your hair 
hangs too low on your face. Can’t I push it 
back a little? ” 

Martha, fetching a comb, was going to touch 
Cornelli’s hair, when Cornelli hindered her by 
crying out: “ No, Martha, leave it I It has to 
stay that way all my life.” 

“ Oh, no, I won’t believe that. Why should 
your face be half covered up? One can hardly 
recognize you,” Martha said regretfully. 
“ What do the ladies say about it? ” 

“ Miss Dorner says that I am the most ob- 
stinate being in the whole world, and that no 
one can ever set me right,” was Cornelli’s truth- 
ful information. Then she added: “ She says 
that no child on earth looks as ugly as I do and 
119 


CORNELL! 


that nobody in the world will ever like me. I 
know that it is true, and I only wish nobody 
were coming to you; then I could always be 
alone with you.” 

“ Cornelli, I am quite sure that you would 
do right in obeying the ladies,” said Martha. 
“If you did what they say, they would love you 
as well as everybody else does.” 

“ No, no, Martha, you don’t know how it 
is,” Cornelli said, quite frightened. “ I’ll do 
everything they say, but I can never push my 
hair away, for then it would be worse still and 
everybody could see it.” 

Martha shook her head. 

“ I do not know what you mean, Cornelli. 
Please come to me just as often as you can. I 
shall always love you more than anybody who 
might ever come here. If you did not come, it 
would hurt me dreadfully. Then I would 
rather not have the rector’s son here, glad as I 
am now that he is coming.” 

“ All right, Martha, then I shall come,” 
Cornelli promised. “ We can easily be alone 
together in the kitchen, for I want to see you 

alone. I shall not come on Monday, for 
120 


A NEWCOMER IN ILLER-STREAM 


that is the day they arrive. On Tuesday, 
though, I’ll come. Then we’ll go together to 
the kitchen.” 

Martha promised this and Cornelli went 
home in the same way as she had come. Not 
once did she run to the meadow to pick 
forget-me-nots or other flowers that were 
sparkling there. 

When Monday came, she was wondering 
if a carriage would arrive with a proud city 
boy and a lady with a high feather hat, both of 
whom would look down on her with disdain. 
Cornelli settled down beside the garden fence, 
for from there she could conveniently survey 
the road. But she saw no carriage, though she 
watched through both the morning and the 
afternoon. She really was very glad, for she 
was quite sure that nobody had arrived. Next 
day when the time came for her to be free, she 
walked over to Martha’s little house. 

“ Oh, I am so glad that nobody has come. 
Now I can be alone with you and don’t have to 
go to the kitchen ” 

Cornelli had said these words on entering, 

but she suddenly stopped. A boy she had never 
121 


CORNELL! 


seen sat at the table in the room and Martha 
was just clearing away the supper tilings. So 
he had come after all and had even heard what 
she had said. Oh, it was dreadful! But the 
boy was laughing. 

Cornelli wanted to withdraw quickly, but 
the boy called out: “ Please come in and let us 
get acquainted. Mrs. Martha has already told 
me about you. Just come in,” he continued, 
when he saw that Cornelli still hesitated. “If 
you want to be alone with Mrs. Wolf I can 
easily go to my own room.” 

Cornelli felt that it was very nice of the boy 
not to resent her words and to be willing to give 
place to her. She therefore entered. Martha 
had already put a chair in readiness for her and 
greeted her heartily. 

“ I expected you, Cornelli,” she said. “ Just 
sit down here a little with our guest. His name 
is Dino Halm and he already knows your name. 
I am sure you will have a good time together. 
I’ll go up in the meantime and if you need me 
you can find me in the room upstairs.” 

Martha, thinking that the children could 
get acquainted better if they were left alone, 
122 


A NEWCOMER IN ILLER-STREAM 


had planned to unpack her new arrival’s things 
while they were together. She put his belong- 
ings neatly away in the wardrobe and the 
drawers in order to make him feel at home in 
his tidy little chamber. 

“ Why did you think that we did not come?” 
asked Dino as soon as Martha had left the room 
and Cornelli was sitting beside him silently. 

“ Because I did not see the carriage,” 
she replied. 

“ The carriage? Well, I can believe you,” 
said Dino. “We walked more than an hour, 
in fact, nearly two, before we got here from 
the station. Do you just hop into a carriage 
when you go to the station? ” 

“ Yes, T do; I always go there with Papa,” 
replied Cornelli. 

“ But where do the horses always come 
from? ” Dino wanted to know. 

“ From our stable,” was the answer. 

“ Have you your own carriage and two 
horses of your own, just to be able to drive 
about? ” Dino questioned, full of astonishment. 

“ Yes, we have the two brown ones and six 
others to carry away the iron from the foundry.” 

123 


CORNELLI 


“ Good gracious, eight horses ! ” Dino ex- 
claimed. “ You are lucky to be able to sit in a 
carriage with your father and drive around! ” 
“ Can’t you do that? ” asked Cornelli. 

“ Never in my life,” Dino replied in a voice 
full of conviction. “ First of all, I do not have 
a father. Besides that, we do not own a stable 
and horses. How lucky you are! Have you 
anything else in the stable ? ” 

“ Oh yes, lots more. Six cows and a large 
gray stable cat,” Cornelli informed him. “Then 
there is an old nanny goat and a young snow 
white kid, about whose neck I tied a red rib- 
bon. You are going to drink milk from our 
cow, did you know that? ” 

“Oh, I shall love to do that!” Dino ex- 
claimed. “ Do you think I’ll be allowed to go 
to the stable and look at the horses ? 99 

“ Certainly you will ; Matthew will love to 
show them to you, and Martha will willingly 
let you go. If I only could go with you ! ” And 
Cornelli uttered a deep sigh. 

“ Well, I should think you certainly could 
do that, when the stable belongs to you. Who 

would hinder you, I’d like to know? ” Dino 
124 


A NEWCOMER IN ILLER-STREAM 


said. “Do you know what we’ll do? We’ll 
hitch the little kid to a cart. Won’t that be 
lovely? It can pull you and I shall be the 
coachman. I once saw such a little carriage 
on a promenade in town.” 

Cornelli had already had that thought her- 
self, but she knew now that she could never 
again go to the stable. It was suddenly clear 
to her that she could not run about as before 
and that she could not be happy any more. The 
chief reason for it all was clear to her, the reason 
that prevented her from being carefree and 
bright as in the old times. She did not answer, 
but gave forth a profound sigh, profounder 
than the one she had uttered before. 

“ Why do you sigh, as if you had to carry a 
mountain about with you — a load that keeps 
you from going forward ? Why do you do it ? ” 
asked Dino. 

“ I can’t tell anyone. You couldn’t, 
either, if you had the trouble I have,” replied 
the little girl. 

“ Oh, yes, I could. There is nothing in the 
world I couldn’t tell,” Dino asserted. “ If you 

can’t confide in other people, you can always 
125 


CORNELLI 


tell your mother, for she can always smooth 
everything out for you. Just go to her and tell 
her about it. That will relieve you and every- 
thing will come right.” 

“ Yes, and now I can say what you said to 
me before. You are lucky and much luckier 
than I am,” said Cornelli with a trembling 
voice. “ I never can go to my mother because 
I have none. Now you see how well off I am! 
I am sure you would never exchange with me, 
would you? ” 

Dino looked quite frightened. 

“ I did not know that you had no mother,” 
he said, full of pity. In his mind he saw his 
own mother, the way she looked at him, so full 
of love that it always lightened his heart when- 
ever anything troubled him. And poor Cor- 
nelli had to miss all that ! 

Even the stable with the horses, the large 
garden with all the fruit, about which Martha 
had told him so much, appeared to him now in a 
different light. 

Full of decision he said: “No indeed, I 
would not change with you.” 

But a great pity for the motherless child 
1 26 


A NEWCOMER IN ILLER-STREAM 


welled up in Dino’s heart and he longed to be 
her protector. He could understand now why 
Cornelli looked so strange ; he had even noticed 
it as soon as he had seen her. There was no 
mother to fix everything the way it should be. 

“We’ll try to be friends, Cornelli! But 
you must push your hair back from your fore- 
head first of all ; one can hardly see your eyes. 
Nobody wears hair like that. I don’t see how. 
such long hair can stay there without blowing 
off. What on earth did you paste it on with? ” 
“With glue,” replied Cornelli. 

“ How nasty! Come, I’ll cut it all off, and 
then your eyes and your forehead will be clear. 
You can hardly see that way.” 

Dino had seized the scissors that were lying 
beside Martha’s work basket, but Cornelli, 
struggling against him with both hands, fairly 
screamed: “ Let it be. It has to be that way. 
Put the scissors away ! ” 

“ I won’t hurt you. But don’t scream so 
loud!” said Dino quietly, putting down the 
scissors again. “ I only wanted to do you a 
favor. If my two sisters, Agnes and Nika, 

could see you, they would laugh at you; 

127 


CORNELL! 


they would not like the way you pasted on 
those locks.” 

“ I know that. But they do not need to see 
me at all,” said Cornelli crossly. “ Nobody 
needs to see me. I know that nobody likes me, 
but I don’t care.” 

With these words Cornelli ran away. Dine 
was terribly astonished and stood looking at 
the door through which Cornelli had disap- 
peared without even a word of farewell. 

When Martha again entered the little room 
and was looking at Cornelli’ s empty chair, Dino 
said : “ What a queer child she is. I never 
thought she would be so unfriendly.” 

He related how they had passed the time to- 
gether and how Cornelli had suddenly run off 
without even saying good-bye. He had not 
wanted to offend her. 

Martha shook her head and said: “ Cornelli 
never was that way before. I am so worried 
about her, for she is absolutely changed. You 
must not think that she is queer and runs away 
like that and suddenly gets cross. She never 
was that way at all; this is something new. If 

I only could hear her sing and laugh again as 
128 


A NEWCOMER IN ILLER-STREAM 


of old. I hoped that her old gaiety would 
come back with such a good playfellow as you 
are. Maybe it will; after all, this is only the 
first day of your acquaintance. 

“ I am sure Cornelli will not come back to 
me,” said Dino, still quite puzzled. “ She ran 
away so full of anger.” 

When Cornelli had exclaimed, “ I don’t 
care,” it probably was not true. On reaching 
home she quietly stole to her room. Sitting 
down on a stool, she put her head in both hands 
and began to cry bitterly. 


9 


CHAPTER YI 


A FRIEND IS FOUND 

C ORNELLI had not appeared at 
Martha’s cottage for quite a number 
of days, and so Martha was filled with 
grief and anxiety. There were many reasons 
for this. First of all, she loved the child as if 
she had been her own and missed her daily 
visits terribly. She also knew that there was 
something the matter with Cornelli and that 
this was the reason why she did not come. From 
the time the child was small, she had run over 
to her old friend every single day and had told 
her everything. Martha was also sorry for her 
guest’s sake that Cornelli stayed away. She 
had told Dino how merry and bright the child 
could be and how he would enjoy her as a daily 
companion. Now it had all come to nothing. 

In the meantime Dino and Martha had be- 
come firm friends, and the old woman was very 
eager to make everything cosy and comfortable 
for her polite and friendly housemate. After 
130 


A FRIEND IS FOUND 


his daily walks and after he had done his school 
work conscientiously, Dino loved always to sit 
down beside Martha. Then she would talk to 
him and tell him many things which Dino loved 
to hear. 

She generally told about Cornelli’s father 
and mother, for Martha had known the latter 
as a small child. Before long, though, she 
would always begin to talk about Cornelli, for 
she never tired of that subject. She assured 
Dino that she had never known a more bright 
or amusing little girl. Dino always assured 
her that he could not believe this and when 
Martha even asserted that Cornelli was more 
attractive than any child she had ever seen, 
Dino laughed. 

“ She looks exactly like a little owl,” he al- 
ways said. “ One can hardly see her eyes. I 
should love her to come again, though,” he 
added, for he was curious to see Cornelli 
when she was funny and bright, as Martha 
described her. 

When Dino had gone to his room that even- 
ing, Martha quickly put on a better apron, 

took the big shawl from her cupboard, and put- 
131 


CORNELLI 


ting it on her shoulders, went quietly out of the 
house and over to the Director’s residence. She 
looked up at the kitchen windows and saw a 
light there, as well as in the room that over- 
looked the garden. On entering the kitchen 
Martha saw Esther and Miss Mina sitting down 
to a plentiful supper. The latter was just get- 
ting up to answer a bell which had rung in the 
dining room, but Esther offered the empty seat 
to her old acquaintance. 

“ Sit down, Martha. I am sure you have 
earned a rest, the same as I have,” she said, and 
with these words moved three platters and a 
bottle over to the new arrival. “ Just take it. 
There is a lot left and I am glad when it is 
gone, for then I can plan something new 
for to-morrow.” 

“ Thank you, Esther,” Martha replied. “ I 
have already eaten supper. It is very nice of 
you to invite me to share it with you, but I 
really can’t.” 

“How can you refuse? I simply won’t 
have it. Anybody can eat what I cook, even 
the Emperor of Russia himself. I am sure you 
are not yet quite as mighty as that,” Esther 

132 


A FRIEND IS FOUND 


proceeded eagerly, loading a plate with mac- 
aroni and stewed plums. 

“ Please, Martha, don’t make a fuss; just 
eat this and drink this glass of wine. I don’t 
know why you shouldn’t. Why shouldn’t you 
eat supper twice, if it is good? ” Martha did 
not dare to refuse Esther’s offering any more, 
so she began to eat her second supper, which 
was much more abundant than the first 
had been. 

“What brings you here so late, Martha; 
what is it? ” asked Esther curiously, for this 
visit was quite unusual. 

“ I was going to ask you something, Esther, 
and I thought that I would interfere less with 
your work in the evening than at any other 
time,” Martha answered. “ Cornelli, who used 
to come to me every day has not been to see me 
all week. I thought that the ladies might have 
objected to her going to such a humble old 
woman as I am. I could understand that well 
enough. Do you think they have? ” 

“ Oh no, they don’t object at all,” Esther 
replied. “ Miss Mina has told them that our 

master thinks well of you. But you have no 

133 


COBNELLI 


idea how changed the child is in all her ways. 
One hardly knows her any more. Three or 
four times a morning she used to come running 
in and out of the kitchen. She was always sing- 
ing and flying about the garden like a little 
bird, at all hours of the day. 

“ Who picked all the fine berries and the 
yellow plums, the juicy, dark red cherries from 
the young trees over there, so that it was a 
pleasure to see her? Cornelli, of course! And 
now she won’t even look at anything. All the 
berries are dried up by now and spoiled, and 
the fine cherries, too. The yellow plums, also, 
are lying under the tree by the dozen. They 
are only meant for children; the ladies won’t 
bother about them and one can’t cook them, 
either. So they fall down and lie there, and 
Cornelli never raises her head when she goes 
by them.” 

Martha was much too modest to say how 
she would have loved to have a little basket 
full of plums for her young boarder. She 
never could give him any fruit and she knew 
how he would enjoy some. But as long as he 

was staying with her she could not do it, for 
134 


A FRIEND IS FOUND 


that would seem as if she were begging 
for herself. 

“ Yes, Esther,” she said after a while, “ I 
certainly have noticed how changed Comelli 
is. I pray to the Lord that everything will 
come right in the end. Of course, it is hard for 
the child to get used to a new life right away. 
But it surely will be good for her to have some- 
body looking after her bringing-up.” 

Esther shrugged her shoulders significantly 
at this, but said nothing. 

“ Is the child still in her room or has she 
gone out, Esther, do you know? I wanted to 
tell her to come again to see me, as long as the 
ladies don’t object.” 

Esther did not need to answer. At that 
moment Cornelli came stealing quietly down 
the hall. When she saw Martha a ray of sun- 
shine passed across her face and she greeted the 
old woman. 

“ I came to see if you were ill,” said Martha. 
“ What keeps you from coming to see me, Cor- 
nelli? The time has passed so slowly without 
you, child,” she added, holding Cornelli’s 
hand affectionately. 


135 


CORNELLI 


“ With me, too,” said Cornelli hoarsely. 

“ Please come to-morrow and every day, 
the way you used to,” Martha begged. 

“ No, I won’t come,” Cornelli answered. 

“ Why not, Cornelli? ” Martha asked, full 
of dismay. 

“ Because the boy is there. I don’t like him 
and he does not like me,” Cornelli stated. 

Martha now eagerly told Cornelli of the 
falsehood of this assertion. She told her how 
Dino had asked after her every day and had 
hoped that she would come again. It was aw- 
fully dull for him to be alone all day without 
a playmate. Martha was quite sure that it had 
not been Dino’s fault that she did not like him. 
The boy had nothing at all against her, for he 
was asking every day that she come back. 

“ Tell me, Cornelli,” Martha said finally, 
“ why don’t you like the boy? He is so nice! ’* 

“ I’ll come to see you to-morrow,” was Cor- 
nelli’s answer, and it sufficed. Quite happily 
Martha said good-bye, making Cornelli repeat 
her promise that she would spend some 
time next day with her old friend and the 
new boarder. 


136 


A FRIEND IS FOUND 


Next day Cornelli actually arrived at 
Martha’s cottage at the accustomed time. 
Martha was standing by her carnation pots on 
the porch, ready to greet the visitor who 
was approaching. 

“ Dino is so glad that you are coming, Cor- 
nelli,” she said, offering her hand as greeting. 
“ He has just returned from drinking milk. 
Look, here he comes ! ” 

Dino had heard the arrival of Martha’s ex- 
pected friend and opening the door had stepped 
out. “ Why have you not come for so long? ” 
he asked, giving Cornelli his hand. “ I waited 
for you every day.” 

Cornelli gave no answer. Entering the 
room together they sat down just as they did 
the first day of their acquaintance. Martha 
went out, because she knew that the children 
would get along better alone, and she was very 
anxious for the two to become good friends. 

“ Your small white kid is growing more 
cunning every day,” said Dino. “ You should 
see it when it bounds about so gaily.” 

“ I don’t care if I see it again or not. Noth- 
137 


CORNELL! 


ing matters at all to me,” Cornelli returned in 
a most unfriendly manner. 

“ No, this is not true,” said Dino, laughing 
kindly. “ When one talks that way it shows 
that one cares a great deal and that one is full 
of bitter thoughts, 'just because one can’t have 
what one wants. I know that very well; I do 
exactly the same thing.” 

Cornelli was so astonished by Dino’s knowl- 
edge in the matter that she gazed at 
him dumfounded. 

“ Oh, yes, I know how it is,” he repeated. 
“ But you do not need to be bitter, because you 
lead the finest life anyone possibly could. I al- 
ways think so each morning and evening when 
I go over to the stable to drink my milk. What 
a wonderful garden you have! I never saw 
such fruit. A whole tree full of plums and all 
the berries on the bushes! And then the two 
fine horses that are kept separately in your 
stable for you. Matthew has told me that your 
father drives with you every week and that you 
can have everything in the house and in the 
garden, for you are the only child.” 

“ Oh, if only there were twelve or twenty 
138 


A FRIEND IS FOUND 


children in the house, then everything would be 
different,” Cornelli broke forth passionately. 
“ But I am always alone and never can say a 
word to anybody. And if one is made so that 
everybody hates and despises one, and if no 
one in the whole world can help one and every- 
thing gets worse all the time You do not 

know how it is. I only wish I could die right 

away ” Here Cornelli burst into sudden 

tears. Putting her head on the table she 
sobbed violently. 

Dino looked quite frightened ; he had never 
intended to make Cornelli sad and he could not 
understand what she had said. But he remem- 
bered that she had no mother and so he could 
understand her tears, for that was dreadfully 
sad. That seemed more cause for tears than 
that she was an only child. 

The thought filled him with deep compas- 
sion for her, and he said softly: “ Come, Cor- 
nelli! It is terribly sad that you have no 
mother, but you must not think that therefore 
you are all alone and nobody wants to help 
you. I’ll be your friend and I’ll help you, but 
you must tell me what troubles you. I do not 
139 


CORNELLI 


understand from what you have said. Please 
explain it all to me.” 

“No, I can’t do that, I can’t tell anyone,” 
Cornelli said between her sobs. 

“ Oh, yes, you can. Don’t cry any more 
and I’ll help you. I can surely find a way. 
Please tell me.” 

Dino took Cornelli ’s hand and gently pulled 
it away from her eyes. 

“ No, no, I can’t,” she said timidly. 

“ Oh, yes, you can. First of all, we’ll push 
your hair away. It is all sticking to your fore- 
head and your eyes; you can hardly see.” 

Dino pushed the hair away as much as he 
was able; but it was still hanging down and 
sticking fast. 

“ Oh, now you’ll see it, and then you’ll 
make a great noise, I know,” Cornelli 
exclaimed desperately. 

“ I do not see anything except that you 
look a thousand times better that way than with 
these thick, drooping fringes all over your 
face,” said Dino. 

“ No, let them be! I know exactly how it 

is,” cried Cornelli, making an effort to push 
140 


A FRIEND IS FOUND 


her hair back again. “ Only you won’t say it, 
because you want to be my friend. But I know 
it and everybody can see it and hate me.” 

“ But Cornelli, why are you crying? ” said 
Dino, full of astonishment. “ I don’t know 
what you mean and I am sure you are 
imagining something. You must be, for one 
often does.” 

“ No, I’m not, and there are people who 
can see it. You must not think that I imagine 
something, Dino; otherwise I would not be so 
frightened that I often cannot go to sleep for 
a long, long while. I have to think and think 
all the time. I know that it will get worse and 
worse and that I won’t be able to cover it up in 
the end. Then there won’t be a single person 
in the world who does not hate me when he 
looks at me. You, too, will hate me then, 
I know.” 

“ I swear to you right now that I shall not 
hate you, whatever should appear,” Dino ex- 
claimed enthusiastically. “ Just tell me for 
once and all what you mean. Please do it, for 
I might be able to help you and give you some 

advice. Just tell me, for you know now that 
141 


CORNELLI 


I will remain your friend in spite of everything 
that might turn up.” 

Cornelli still hesitated. 

“ But will you still be my friend later 
on, when everything is still more changed 
and nobody else will be my friend? ” she 
asked persistently. 

“Yes, I promise; and here is my hand!” 
said Dino, giving the little girl a hearty hand- 
shake. “You can see that I really mean it, 
for what one has promised that way, one can 
never take back. Now you can be sure that I 
shall always be your friend.” 

Cornelias face lit up with joy. It was ob- 
viously a great comfort to her to have a friend 
who would remain so for all time. 

“ So now, I’ll tell you what it is. But you 
must promise not to tell anyone in the whole, 
wide world about it, as long as you live.” 

Dino promised, giving his hand again for 
solemn assurance. 

“ Look, here on both sides of my forehead,” 
said Cornelli now, hesitating a little and push- 
ing the fringes of hair out of her face, “ I have 

two large bumps, they grow all the time and 
142 



“look, here on both sides of my forehead” 

































































































































* -« , 






















































1 . ' « 
























A FRIEND IS FOUND 


especially when I frown. I have to make a 
cross face all the time, for I cannot be jolly any 
more and can never laugh again. So the bumps 
keep on growing and in the end they will be 
just like regular horns. Then everyone will 
hate me, for nobody else has horns. I can do 
nothing now but hide them, but in the end they 
will come through and then my hair won’t hide 
them any more. Then everybody can see it 
and people will despise me and children will be 
sure to throw stones after me. Oh ! ” 

Cornelli again put her head on her arms 
and groaned in her great trouble. Dino had 
listened, full of astonishment. He had never 
before heard anything like that. 

“ But, Cornelli,” he said, “ why do you 
frown all the time, if the bumps grow when 
you do it? It would be so much better if you 
would think of funny things and would try to 
laugh. If you always made a pleasant face 
they would perhaps go away entirely.” 

“ I can’t! I can’t possibly do it,” Cornelli 
lamented. “ I know that I make a horrid face 
and that I am so ugly that nobody wants to 

look at me. Whenever anybody looks at me I 
143 


CORNELLI 


have to make a cross face, for I know that 
everybody thinks how horrid I look. I never 
can be happy any more, because I have to think 
all the time about that terrible thing on my 
head, and that it is getting worse. And I can’t 
help it and can do nothing. You don’t know 
how it is. As long as I live I have to be that 
way, and everybody will hate me. You could 
not laugh any more, either, if you were 
like that.” 

“ You should try to think of quite different 
things and then you would forget it. Later on 
it would probably seem quite different to you. 
You keep on thinking about it all the time and 
so you believe in it more and more. Get it out 
of your head, then it will be sure to get better,” 
said Dino, who could not quite understand it. 
“ Come, I’ll tell you a story that will change 
your thoughts. Once upon a time there was 

an old copper pan See, you have 

laughed already! ” 

“ Oh, that will be a fine kind of story — 
about an old copper pan! ” Cornelli said. 

“ It certainly is a fine story,” Dino assured 
her; “ just listen: She had a step-brother who 


A FRIEND IS FOUND 


was a wash boiler — you see, you have laughed 
again ! That’s the way ! So they went together 
to Paris, where there was a revolution.” 

“What is a revolution?” Cornelli asked, 
quite thrilled. 

“See how the story interests you!” said 
Dino, thoroughly pleased. “ You have no 
more wrinkles on your forehead, because you 
are listening well. Didn’t I guess what you 
have to do? I’ll go on now. You call it a 
revolution when nobody wants to remain in 
their old places and everything goes to pieces.” 

“ What do you mean by going to pieces? 
Do you mean it the way chairs begin to go to 
pieces when the glue comes off and the legs get 
loose and shaky? ” 

“ Just that way,” Dino assented. “ When 
all laws and orders begin to go to pieces like 
chairs, when the glue is off and everything 
crashes and tumbles down; do you understand?” 

“Yes. And what happened?” Cornelli 
wanted to know. 

The travellers liked that well,” Dino con- 
tinued, “ for they were full of discontented 

thoughts. The copper pan had thought for a 
10 145 


CORNELLI 


long time that she wanted to be something else. 
She was tired of cooking greasy food and of 
all the time being full of soot at the bottom; 
she wanted to be something better. The wash 
boiler had similar thoughts. He thought he 
would be much better off as a nice tea kettle. 
He thought how nice it would be to stand on a 
fine table, so he wanted to get away from 
the laundry. 

“ When they came to the revolution they 
joined in it, too. They became quite famous 
making speeches, for they both could talk very 
well. The wash boiler had learned it from the 
washer women, and the copper pan from the 
cook. So they were both asked what they 
wanted to become. The copper pan wanted to 
become an ice box ; she wanted to sparkle out- 
side with fine wood and inside with splendid 
ice. The wash boiler wanted to become a fine 
tea kettle and be able to stand on a finely laid- 
out table. So they both became what they 
had wished. 

“ But the copper pan, who had been used 
to the cosy fire, began to shake and freeze when 
the ice filled her whole inside. Her teeth were 
146 


A FRIEND IS FOUND 


chattering while she looked about to see if she 
could discover a little fire anywhere. But no- 
body ever brought any burning spark near her. 
She suffered the bitterest hunger besides, be- 
cause she had been used to quite different nour- 
ishment from fat morsels roasting in her insides. 
Now she had to swallow little lumps of ice and 
nothing else. She was not a bit pleased with 
shining outside and in, for she had to think all 
the time : how terrible it is to starve and freeze 
to death. 

“ The tea kettle meanwhile was standing 
on a beautifully set table. Many splendidly 
dressed young ladies and gentlemen were sit- 
ting around him and drinking tea out of fine 
china cups, and eating from lovely gold-rimmed 
plates. The tea kettle felt flattered and said to 
himself : 4 Oh, now I can be anybody’s equal.’ 
But one of the ladies said: ‘ I can smell tar 
soap and I think it comes from this tea kettle. 
I wonder what that means ? ’ Her neighbor 
laughed and said : ‘ I noticed it long ago. I 
hope it has not been used for washing stock- 
ings.’ So they looked at the kettle and sniffed 
and turned up their noses with disdain. 

147 


CORNELLI 


“ The tea kettle lost his assurance, for he 
knew quite well that many hundreds of stock- 
ings had been boiled inside of him. The poor 
thing had never guessed that the smell of tar 
soap would stick to him in his new shape. He 
felt very cramped and uncomfortable in the 
society he was in, and was possessed with the 
thought of getting away and returning to 
the place where he had been comfortable and 
had been held in high esteem, for he had really 
been a first-rate boiler. 

“ Then suddenly the revolution ceased. 
The lady of the house who owned the ice box 
said : ‘ I do not want the horrible ice box any 
more, which they have exchanged for my good 
old ice box. All the ice that comes out of it 
tastes of onion soup.’ The copper pan had al- 
ways cooked this soup better than any other. 

‘ Lulu, throw it out to the old iron heap,’ said 
the lady. So Lulu, the butler, and Lala, the 
maid, took the ice box and with terrible might 
threw her down on the scrap heap, where old 
iron, bones and dirt lay in the back yard. 

“ The ice box felt that all her limbs were 
giving way and that everything was going to 
148 


A FRIEND IS FOUND 


end badly. She lamented: 4 Oh, if only I had 
not joined the revolution ! If I had only stayed 

at home by the cosy fire ! Oh, if only ’ And 

with that she cracked completely. 

4 4 On the same day the young lady on whose 
table the kettle was standing said : 4 Now I have 
had enough of this horrid tar-soap boiler. I 
want a genuine tea kettle and not an imitation. 
Away with this thing! ’ So the butler took the 
kettle and dashed him down to the heap of rub- 
bish in the yard. It was the same rubbish heap 
where his step-sister had been thrown, and in 
his fall he broke his own and his step-sister’s 
last bones. Then he exclaimed in bitter pain: 
4 Oh, if only I had not joined the revolution! 
Oh, if I were only home in the peaceful, steam- 
ing laundry.’ Then he was completely smashed 
by the old muskets that were used in the revo- 
lution and that had been thrown down on top of 
him. And this is the end of the story.” 

44 Yes, they were right. If only they 
had not joined the revolution!” Cornelli 
said sympathetically. 

44 Yes, and I am right, too,” Dino cried tri- 
umphantly. 44 Just see how much it helped you 

149 


CORNELLI 


to forget your curious bump affair. You have 
no more wrinkles on your forehead and you 
have pushed all your hair away. You look 
entirely different ; I hardly know you now.” 

Cornelli in very truth had been so eager in 
listening to the story that with one quick mo- 
tion she had pushed the hanging curtains out 
of her eyes. She had been anxious not to miss 
a word, and the hair had bothered her very 
much. Her whole face had become bright and 
changed during the thrilling tale. 

“ Just look at yourself! ” Dino encouraged 
her, taking a little mirror from the wall and 
holding it in front of the little girl. 

“ No, no, I do not want to see it! ” she cried 
out. In the same moment she had pulled her 
hair back again over her eyes, and on her fore- 
head appeared a lot of wrinkles. 

“ Don’t get so excited! ” said Dino, putting 
back the mirror. “ But I am awfully glad to 
know a way to help you. I shall do it every 
day, but you must promise to come regularly. 
I am sure you’ll forget everything else that 
worries you, and in the end you’ll forget about 
it and so be gay again.” 

150 


A FRIEND IS FOUND 


Cornelli shook her head. “No, you can’t 
prevent it from getting worse,” she said, cover- 
ing her forehead with more hair. However, 
she took Dino’s hand as a promise to come again, 
for she had enjoyed her visit very much and 
was looking forward to repeating it. 

From that day on, Cornelli wandered over 
to Martha’s little house as she had always done. 
The old woman cried with joy when she heard 
the child’s merry laughter after all that time, 
for it had been a great grief to her to see the 
bright child so terribly changed. She loved to 
leave the children by themselves, for then they 
always seemed to en j oy themselves best. From 
time to time she heard their happy laughter; it 
thrilled her with joy, and she never wanted to 
interrupt it. She had seen how Cornelli be- 
haved when listening to one of Dino’s stories; 
the little girl was as eager as if she were ex- 
periencing it all herself. In her burning zeal 
she would fling back her hair, her eyes would 
sparkle as in days gone by, and a brightly 
laughing face would regard the story teller. 
Everything else was forgotten for the time; 
but if something reminded Cornelli of her own 
151 


CORNELLI 


life and troubles, all sunshine was suddenly 
gone from her face, her forehead clouded up, 
and the horrible sticky hair was again hanging 
over her eyes. 

So Martha always tried to leave the chil- 
dren undisturbed. She had many hopes for 
Cornelli on account of this daily intercourse 
with the charming boy, whose clear brow was 
never troubled and who could so quickly drive 
away the clouds from his friend’s face. 

As soon as Cornelli left the little house and 
was approaching her own garden, everything 
changed back to the old condition. Martha, 
looking after the child, could always see the 
fearful looking hair that so strangely disfigured 
the little girl’s pretty face. Then she would 
sigh deeply and would say to herself : It seems 
like a disease, but who can help her? Oh, if 
our blessed lady had seen her child so 
terribly disfigured! 

Cornelli was very much surprised when she 
found that Saturday evening had come again, 
for the last two weeks had flown by very fast. 

She ran through the garden. Under the 
plum tree lay the last fully ripened dark gold 
152 


A FRIEND IS FOUND 


plums. Cornelli picked them up; they were 
really splendid, but they had given her no 
pleasure that year. She took them with her 
and put them on Martha’s table. 

“ Oh, what fine yellow plums ! I am sure 
they taste as sweet as honey,” exclaimed Dino. 
“ Are they from your garden? When the sun 
shines on them in the morning, all the branches 
seem to sparkle with reddish gold like a 
Christmas tree.” 

“ Yes, they are from the tree. Do you want 
to eat them? ” asked Cornelli. 

“ With pleasure. But you must eat some, 
too,” said Dino. 

“ No, I don’t want to,” Cornelli replied. 
“ Just try whether they are good. If you do 
not like them, you can leave them or give them 
to the birds.” 

“ Oh, but there is nothing that tastes as 
sweet and splendid as these golden plums!” 
cried Dino, while he was slowly eating one 
after another. 

“ What a shame ! I wish I had known how 
much you like them; you really ought to have 

told me,” Cornelli said. “ There are none left 
153 


CORNELLI 


on the tree and they are the last that were lying 
on the grass. But very soon we’ll have the best 
juicy pears — they are perfectly delicious, I 
think, even better — and then I’ll bring you 
some every day.” 

“Yes, it certainly would be great to have a 
pear feast with you every day,” said Dino, 
looking admiringly at the last reddish plum 
before he ate it. “It is easy enough for you, 
Cornelli. You can stay right here under the 
pear tree, but I have to go away. I’ll have to 
spend my time behind the school house walls, 
regretting all that I have lost.” 

“ But you are not going away,” said Cor- 
nelli with dismay. 

It had never occurred to her that this happy 
companionship could ever end. 

“ Yes, I have to. If I could, I would stay 
here much longer with our good friend Martha. 
She is better than anybody I know except my 
mother, and she takes care of me as if I were 
a silkworm.” 

“ Yes, and when you go, everything is 
over,” said Cornelli, speaking as if Dino were 

her enemy. Her eyes glowed at him from 
154 


A FRIEND IS FOUND 


under her hair and she seemed to be accusing 
him of some bitter wrong. She now turned 
away, as if to say : Now I do not want to hear of 
anything more. But Dino understood her 
sudden anger. 

“ No, Cornelli,” he said soothingly, “ just 
the opposite will happen. It is not over at all, 
because it has only just begun. I have planned 
with Martha to-day that I shall come again next 
summer and the summer after and every year 
after that, till we are both old and gray.” 

But Cornelli only saw the immediate future 
before her and what was going to happen now; 
she could not look so far ahead. 

“ Yes, but it is so long till next year, that 
you are sure to forget all about me a hundred 
times,” she said crossly, as if she were chiding 
her companion. 

“No, I won’t do that,” said Dino quietly. 
“ I won’t forget you once, least of all a hun- 
dred times. I’ll prove it to you, Cornelli. Let 
us still have a good time together and enjoy the 
four remaining days that I can stay here. Let 
us look forward, also, to the time when I shall 

come again. Just think how much the kid will 
155 


CORNELL! 


have grown by then! We shall be able to drive 
together. I’ll be the coachman and you’ll be 
the lady in the carriage. That will be splendid !” 

But Cornelli could no longer be really gay. 
She always saw the moment before her when 
Dino had to say good-bye, and when all their 
fun would be over. The morning really came 
fast enough when she had to take leave of him 
in Martha’s cottage. After Dino had driven 
away, Cornelli buried her head in her arms and 
cried piteously. Martha, too, was heavy of 
heart, and sat beside her, crying quietly. 

That same evening when dinner was done 
and Cornelli got up from table to leave the 
room, the cousin said: “You have not said a 
single word to-day, Cornelli. You seem to get 
worse instead of better! Ought your father 
find you worse on coming home than when 
he left? ” 

“ Good-night,” said Cornelli hoarsely, and 
left the room without once looking up. 

“ There is nothing to be done with her; you 
can see it for yourself, Betty. You have 
thought that we could still produce a change 
for the better,” said Miss Dorner, after Cor- 
156 


A FRIEND IS FOUND 


nelli had shut the door behind her. “ What 
have we accomplished with our best efforts? 
We have tried hard enough for her father’s 
sake. How terrible it will be for him to live 
alone with her again! Instead of cheering his 
lonely life, she will only cause him worry and 
trouble. And what a sight she is! Have you 
ever seen an obstinacy equal to hers in all 
your life? ” 

“No, never,” replied the friend. “ It actu- 
ally seems as if all the helpful words we have 
spoken had the opposite effect with her. When- 
ever we told her how terrible she looked, the 
disfiguring hair fringes always seemed to get 
worse. I should like to know what one could 
do to break her stubborn will. Maybe great 
severity would do it or bringing together Cor- 
nelli and other children; they might cure her 
by laughing at her.” 

“ I do not believe so, for nothing seems to 
help,” Miss Dorner concluded. “ My cousin 
himself, when he comes back, shall decide what 
to do with her. But I know that one thing is 
certain: whatever will be done, she will never 
be a joy to her father.” 


CHAPTER VII 


A NEW SORROW 

A UTUMN had come, and all the fruit 
A\ trees in Mr. Hellmut’s garden were 
laden with gorgeous fruit. Bright red 
apples and golden pears were shining through 
the green branches; dark blue plums, honey 
sweet, fell here and there from the deeply 
weighted trees. Whoever passed the garden 
had to stand still and look, full of wonder, at 
this great abundance, and many a person was 
tempted to leap over the hedge and get one of 
the golden pears as a prize. 

Cornelli, staring in front of her, was sitting 
on the bench under the hazel nut tree. Matthew 
was just approaching from the stable; he wore 
his best coat, and one could see that something 
special was going on. 

“ Do you want to come with me, Cornelli? ” 
he asked, walking over to the bench where she 
was sitting. “ I am just going to harness the 
horses. Your father is coming at eleven o’clock 
158 


A NEW SORROW 


and I am going to drive down to the lake to 
meet him. Come with me! Our brown fel- 
lows will be sure to trot well, for they have had 
a long rest. Come along! It will be fun, 
I know.” 

Cornelli shook her head. 

“ No? ” said Matthew with disappointment. 
“ I was sure you would not let slip a chance of 
driving gaily out into the bright morning to 
meet your father. Shall I get you down some 
pears? No pears, either?” Matthew went 
away, shaking his head. “If our master only 
had half a dozen boys and as many girls, how 
nice it would be here on the place. Then such 
splendid pears would not be hanging sad and 
forgotten on the trees.” Then he added, in a 
murmur: “Not even to care about driving 
with such horses ! ” 

Soon afterwards, Mr. Maelinger arrived, 
for it was time for Comelli’s lessons. Most of 
the time the teacher sat beside his pupil shaking 
his head. He really needed all his patience to 
endure the total indifference she showed in all 
her tasks. To-day it was again the same. 

The two hours passed, and the carriage 
159 


CORNELLI 


which was bringing home her father had just 
driven up in front of the house. Mr. Maelinger 
was filled with astonishment, for his pupil, in- 
stead of jumping up happily and running away 
to greet her father, looked shyly through the 
window and did not budge. 

“You can go, Cornelli; your father is here! 
We have finished our work,” he said, and with 
these words departed. 

Cornelli had heard her father coming into 
the house and had heard the ladies’ joyful words 
of welcome. She crushed a tear that had begun 
to trickle down her cheek and went over to the 
room where her father had just entered. 

“ How are you, child? Have you come at 
last ? ” the father called gaily to her. “ But how 
strange you look, Cornelli ! ” he went on with 
a changed voice. “ What is it? ” Cornelli had 
silently given him her hand and was shyly 
looking down. 

“What has happened to you? How odd 
you look ! I hardly know you any more ! Push 
away all that gypsy-like hair from your face! 
Why don’t you look at me pleasantly? Why 

do you keep looking away? For months I 
160 


A NEW SORROW 


have been looking forward to this home-com- 
ing to my little daughter, who, I had hoped, 
would have gained much. So this is the way 
I am to find you, Cornelli ” 

Full of sorrow and anger, the father was 
gazing at the little girl. She had turned away 
and had not said a word. Her face, half hid- 
den by the horrible hair strands, seemed to be 
covered by a gray cloud which threatened to 
break out in a violent rain. 

“ We shall talk it all over later, Frederick,” 
said the cousin. “ Let us first enjoy and cele- 
brate the happy hour of your return and let us 
keep all troublesome thoughts away.” With 
these words. Miss Dorner led her cousin to the 
dining room, where the table was festively set 
with all the good dishes Esther knew were her 
master’s favorites. 

The Director’s thoughts, however, were so 
troubled that even the festive meal could not 
dispel them. He barely touched the food that 
was offered, for he could not take his eyes off 
his only child. She sat in front of him with 
bowed head, and only now and then looked up 
at him, quite shyly. The meal did not go 
11 161 


CORNELLI 


through in a very festive spirit. It was notice- 
able that Mr. Hellmut had to force himself to 
the few words he spoke. His thoughts were 
elsewhere and were of a very disturbing nature. 
He got up from the table, as soon as possible, 
and hurried away. 

“ He is going over to the works,” said Miss 
Dorner to her friend, following him with her 
eyes. Cornelli, too, had left the room as soon 
as her father had gone. “ I think it has upset 
him more than I thought it would. He has to 
give vent to his excitement a little, and I hope 
that seeing the workmen over there will help 
him to get over his impression. I hope he will 
hear there many new and pleasant things — of 
much work and good business. It is hard for 
him to carry on his endless work for the sake 
of such a child, don’t you think so? But it 
can’t be changed.” 

After a while the Director came back again. 
He did not look much soothed or pleasantly 
surprised by what he had just heard. The 
ladies now sat down again to drink a cup of 
coffee with him. 

“ They have spoiled many things for me 
162 


A NEW SORROW 


over there,” said the Director, sitting down be- 
side them. “ Even if it should mean consider- 
able loss, I can bear it, but I cannot stand the 
way Cornelli has changed. What a frightful 
sight she is, and how dumb and stupid she has 
grown. She did not show the slightest sign of 
pleasure at my coming and has not said a single 
word since then. She has hardly even looked 
at me and only sits there as if her existence 
were a real misfortune — I cannot stand it. 
What has happened to the child? ” In his ex- 
citement Mr. Hellmut jumped up and paced 
about the room. 

“ Nothing has happened to the child; at 
least, we know of nothing, do we, Betty? ” said 
Miss Dorner. “We have both tried to teach 
her good manners, for we found that she lacked 
them sadly. We did it chiefly on your account. 
Sorry as I am to say it, Frederick, I have to 
tell you that the child’s disposition is so ter- 
ribly obstinate one can hardly do anything with 
her. The more we fought against it and tried 
to bring her on the right path, the worse it got 
and the more she would insist on having 
her way. 


163 


CORNELLI 


“ What have we not said against this ter- 
rible disfigurement! And all for nothing! The 
more we said, the more Cornelli would pull her 
hair into her eyes. So I gave it up, for I saw 
that only physical punishment would help in 
such a case and I wanted to leave that to you ; 
I did not come into your house for that. I do 
not even dare to decide if that would help. I 
have really never in all my life seen such a 
stubborn child. I shall certainly admire any- 
body who can bring her to rights.” 

The director had marched up and down the 
room with restless steps. Now he suddenly 
stood still. 

“Rut good gracious!” he exclaimed, 
“ there must certainly be a way to help a child 
of ten years. Are there no means except chas- 
tisement to bring up a young creature like her? 
What an abominable thought ! I will not believe 
such a thing! Can you give me no advice? 
What could I do ? Ladies surely know how to 
educate a little girl. Something simply has 
to be done right away. I am to blame for my 
neglect and for leaving her too long in the 
wrong hands. Oh, what would my Cornelia 
164 


A NEW SORROW 


say if she could see her child? ” Mr. Hellmut 
threw himself down in his chair and put his 
hands before his face. 

“ Please calm yourself, Frederick! It is 
not your fault at all, for you can’t fight against 
her disposition,” the cousin said soothingly. 
“We have thought of a way of helping the 
child. You might send her to a boarding school 
in town where there are a great many children 
and young girls. Children often help each 
other by rubbing up against one another and 
by noticing each other’s faults and mistakes.” 

“ Do you think that this might help Cor- 
nelli ? ” asked the father doubtfully. “ Cornelli 
is not used to being rubbed against and 
laughed at.” 

“ For that reason it would make a still deeper 
impression on her,” answered the cousin. “ You 
can believe me when I say that this may be the 
only means to break her obstinacy, and I am 
not sure that even this will help. If such a 
school can’t break her will, nobody on earth can 
reform her ; you can believe me, Frederick.” 

“ She is still very young to be sent away 

from home,” said the father, full of pity. “ But 
165 


CORNELLI 


I fear that you are right. She could not get 
better here, only worse, and so it will probably 
have to be. Do you know of a boarding school 
you could recommend? ” 

The cousin answered that she knew of one, 
and offered to take the necessary steps as soon 
as she was again at home. Miss Dorner hoped 
in vain that her cousin’s humor would change 
and that he would become again the merry and 
sociable companion of old days. He tried with 
all his might to be entertaining when they met 
at table; but he always had to glance at his 
little girl, who sat at her place dumb and seem- 
ingly afraid even to glance about her. A deep 
shadow always came across his features, and 
one could see that it was hard for him to mingle 
in the general conversation. 

Miss Dorner at last had enough of his un- 
friendly attitude. As a last means to break it 
and to shake him up a little, she said to him on 
the third day after his arrival : “ It seems to me, 
Frederick, that you are too much occupied even 
to remember your duties as a host. We are 
thinking of going back to town. Are 
you willing? ” 


166 


A NEW SORROW 


“ I understand your decision absolutely,” 
Mr. Hellmut answered politely. “ You are 
right in telling me that I am the most unpleas- 
ant host that could be found, but I hope you 
understand that the change in Cornelli has 
spoiled everything for me and has only filled 
me with the thought of how to help her. I 
hope very much that you will visit my house 
again at a pleasanter time. You can order the 
carriage whenever you want it.” 

The cousin had not expected this answer. 
“ You go entirely too far, Frederick,” she said 
angrily. “ How can a man sacrifice every- 
thing and change all his ideas for the sake of 
such a child? ” 

“ You seem to forget that it is my Cor- 
nelia’s and my only child,” answered the Di- 
rector. “ But we shall not talk about it any 
more, because we could not understand each 
other. I am so grateful for your goodwill that 
I do not want to cause you any anger at 
the end.” 

Two days later the carriage stood before 
the door. Both ladies stepped in and Mina 
stepped in after them. The latter had known 
167 


CORNELLI 


so well how to make herself liked by them that 
they were taking her to town, for Mina had 
wished to become a maid in the city to get away 
from country people. One of the ladies was 
to take her as chambermaid, but it had not been 
settled yet which of them would do so. 

Esther was terribly indignant because Mina 
was leaving a good house for no reason what- 
soever. Since Esther had been managing in 
the Director’s home she had always felt the 
honor of the house to be her own. Full of re- 
sentment, she was standing behind her master, 
who was shaking hands as a last farewell. 

Miss Mina was looking towards the other 
side, where Cornelli stood: “Won’t you even 
give me your hand? This is not very friendly 
of you. That is just the way you are,” she said 
to the child in a low voice. 

Now Esther broke forth: “Miss Mina,” 
she called out as loudly as she could, “ please 
be so kind as to tell the ladies on the trip who 
left the dusty marks on the sofa by standing 
on it. They were not from a child’s shoe.” 

Mina blushed a deep scarlet and Miss Dor- 

ner, full of astonishment, looked at her glow- 
168 


A NEW SORROW 


ing face. She expected a fitting retort, but 
none came. 

“ Go ahead, Matthew,” Miss Dorner 
ordered excitedly. She did not desire a 
further explanation. 

Mr. Hellmut had moved away. 

Cornelli now took Esther’s broad hand in- 
side both her own and pressed it hard. A ray 
of joy flitted over her features, the first after a 
long, long time. “ Oh, I am so glad that you 
said that, Esther; I am more glad than you 
can think,” she said eagerly. “ If you had not 
said that, they would have thought all their 
lives that I had done it and denied it. But how 
does Mina know who did it? ” 

“ She knows, because she did it herself,” 
Esther replied. 

“ Oh, oh! So she ‘did it with her own 
feet,” Cornelli exclaimed. “ It is better that 
she has gone then. We’d rather be left alone 
here, wouldn’t we, Esther, just you and I?” 

“ Yes, indeed,” said the cook, full of satis- 
faction. “ Just tell your father that I do not 
mind double work, but that I do mind 
deceitful ways.” 


169 


CORNELL! 


Cornelli had not spoken to her father since 
he had come back. She was shy before him, 
because she realized that the sight of her dis- 
pleased him. She was, however, quite sure that 
she could never change and always had to be 
like that. She was also certain that he would 
only abhor her more if he ever found out what 
was hidden under her locks of hair. She there- 
fore went slowly and hesitatingly towards his 
room in order to give him Esther’s message. 
In former times she had always run to him 
gaily, whenever she had something to tell him. 
Since then things had changed. 

“ It will never again be that way,” she said 
to herself. The thought seemed to weigh so 
heavily on her that she suddenly stood still. At 
that moment her father opened the door in 
front of which she stood. “ Oh, here you are, 
Cornelli,” he said delightedly. “ Did you want 
to pay me a little visit? We have really hardly 
seen each other. Come in here! I was just 
going to get you, for I want to speak with you.” 

Cornelli entered, not saying a word and 
avoiding her father’s glance. 

“ Come, Cornelli,” he said, leading her 
170 


A NEW SORROW 


through the room and sitting down beside her. 
“ I have something to tell you that will make 
you very happy. You have changed so much 
during my absence and so little to your advan- 
tage that something has to be done for your 
education. It is high time. I shall take you 
to a boarding school in town, where you can be 
with many other children and young girls. You 
will have the chance to learn many things from 
them and to make friends with many. You 
will be sure to change there, then you can re- 
turn to bring your father joy. I cannot enjoy 
you now, for I do not know what ails you. It 
may be better after you get some education. I 
expect to take you away next week.” 

Cornelli’s face became snow white from 
sudden terror. First she uttered no sound, but 
soon she burst into violent tears. 

“ Oh, Papa,” she sobbed, “ leave me at 
home! I’ll be good. Oh, don’t send me to 
town to so many children ! Oh, I can’t, I can’t. 
Oh, Papa, don’t send me away! ” 

Mr. Hellmut could not bear to see Cor- 
nelli’s tears and still less to hear her supplica- 
tions. “ But for her own good it has to be,” he 
171 


CORNELL! 


said to himself to strengthen his resolution. 
Cornelli’s lamentations were too much for him 
and he rushed away. 

Several horns later, the time had come for 
supper and he returned from the iron foundry. 

Esther came to meet him: “ Oh, I am glad 
that you have come, Director,” she said ex- 
citedly. “ When I went up to Cornelli just 
now she was crying. I wanted her to taste 
some of the little plum cakes she usually likes 
so much, but the poor child only shrieked: ‘ Oh, 
leave me here, leave me here ! 9 Oh, Mr. Hell- 
mut, what if Cornelli should get sick and die? ” 

“Nonsense, Esther,” he returned; “chil- 
dren do not die from obstinacy.” 

The master of the house had tried to speak 
harshly, but he did not quite succeed. He ran 
straight upstairs to Cornelli’s room and saw 
the child on her knees in front of the bed. Her 
head was pressed into the pillows and she cried 
as if her heart was breaking. 

“ Oh, don’t send me away, don’t send me 
away! ” she cried as soon as he entered. 

He saw that Cornelli was trembling all over 
from fear and excitement. “ I cannot endure 
172 


A NEW SORROW 


this,” he said to himself, and seizing his hat ran 
out of the house. 

Martha was sitting in her peaceful little 
chamber, busy with her mending and thinking 
about Cornelli. She was wondering what 
would happen now that she was again left 
alone with her father. She wondered if the 
old days would come back, or if something new 
was going to be done for Cornelli’s education. 
The door was suddenly flung open and Mr. 
Hellmut entered. 

“ Oh, Martha, I do not know what to do,” 
he said to her in a perturbed manner. “ You 
simply have to help me. You knew my wife 
and you know my child and love her ; and be- 
sides, she is attached to you. Tell me what has 
come over her. Since when has she been so 
frightfully stubborn? Was the child always 
that way, or has she only grown more stubborn 
lately ? Have you noticed how she has changed 
in my absence? ” 

“ There is nothing so very much the matter 
with Cornelli, Mr. Hellmut. Cornelli is not 
an ill-natured child, I am sure of that. But 
won’t you take a seat, Director? ” Martha in- 
173 


CORNELLI 


terrupted her speech, placing a chair now here 
and now there for her visitor, who was running 
excitedly to and fro. But he refused, for he 
was too restless to settle down. 

“ It was really a very abrupt and sudden 
change for the child, and it was hard for her to 
have everything so different all at once,” 
Martha said. “ Even an older child might have 
become shy under those conditions, and Cor- 
nelli is still very young. It is hard for a small 
plant to have too much done for it all at once 
and too suddenly ; it has to have time to develop, 
and the better the plant the more carefully it 
should be tended.” 

“ I hope you are not trying to insinuate 
that it was not good for Cornelli to at last get 
into the right hands,” said Mr. Hellmut, stand- 
ing still in the middle of the room. “ I have to 
reckon it as a great blessing that she was 
thrown with ladies of culture and refinement, 
who could awaken in her everything that was 
good, noble and fine, and could teach her many 
things. My Cornelia would have done this her- 
self, above all others, for she was in all those 
things the most striking example. The child 
174 


A NEW SORROW 


has not a trace of her, not even in her looks; 
everything is lost that used to remind me 
of her.” , 

“ Oh, Mr. Hellmut, if I might be allowed 
to say anything else, I would only add one 
word,” Martha replied calmly. “ I have al- 
ways found that a little love goes further than 
many good rules. I know that a young child 
can be frightened by harsh words more than 
grown-up people realize. Afterwards they 
cannot understand the cause of the shy be- 
havior which is the result. Cornelli has not 
lost her mother’s eyes, only one cannot see them 
under her hanging fringes.” 

“ Yes, that’s it, Martha, this horrible dis- 
figurement, this obstinacy which holds fast to it 
all. The shy, spiritless manner, the absolutely 
changed ways of the child hurt and worry me 
so. It takes away all my joy and all my cour- 
age and paralyzes all hope for the future. It 
has absolutely spoiled my life.” 

The visitor had gotten more and more 
stirred up as he went on. “ So I shall help her 
in the only way I know of : I shall send her to 
a boarding school. I just told her about it and 
175 


CORNELLI 


she acted as if she were absolutely desperate. I 
simply cannot look upon her terrible despair. 
I actually feel as if my Cornelia could 
have no peace in Heaven if she heard her 
child’s supplications.” 

“ Oh, Director, if you could only keep Cor- 
nelli at home for a little while, so that she could 
calm down,” Martha said humbly. “ Cornelli 
has had to go through so many new experiences 
lately that it would be good for her to stay 
quietly at home for a while. In the meantime 
you could get her more accustomed to the idea 
of leaving home, so that it would not scare her 
so dreadfully. I promise to do all I can too, 
Mr. Hellmut. I will tel] her pleasant things 
about the school and the nice children that she 
might meet there.” 

“ That is a fine idea, Martha,” Mr. Hellmut 
said, a little more calmly. “ Please do all you 
possibly can to make the idea pleasant and de- 
sirable to the child. Do not forget, Martha, 
that you are my only help.” 

After these words Mr. Hellmut went away. 

“Oh, the good kind Director!” said 
Martha, following him with her eyes. “ What 
176 


A NEW SORROW 


help can old, stupid Martha be to him, I won- 
der. But I shall certainly do whatever I can.” 

Arrived at home, Mr. Hellmut went 
straight up to Cornelli’s room. She was still 
kneeling at her bed in the same attitude, and 
still crying bitterly. 

“ Get up, Cornelli, and stop crying,” he 
said. “ I meant well with you, but you did not 
understand me. You shall stay at home for 
the present; later on you may feel differently 
about it. You can go to Martha to-morrow. 
Listen well to her words, for she is your 
best friend.” 

Cornelli could not have heard a more con- 
soling word. It sounded so hopeful after all 
the horrible news about going away. 

“ Can’t I go to Martha right away? ” she 
said longingly. 

“Yes, you can, Cornelli,” replied her 
father, “ but you have not eaten anything yet.” 

“ That does not matter,” said Cornelli, al- 
ready running down the stairs. 

At last Cornelli was running again. She 
flew quickly up the little stairs and into 
Martha’s room. 


12 


177 


CORNELL! 


“ I have to go away, Martha, but not right 
away. Papa says that I have to go,” the child 
called out on entering. “Papa told me to come 
to you; I think it was because I cried all the 
time and he wanted me to stop. But I won’t 
stop, unless you promise to help me to stay at 
home. I do not want to go to all the strange 
children. I couldn’t stand it ; oh, no, I couldn’t ! 
Oh, it would be dreadful. Please help me, 
Martha, help me ! ” 

The terrible fear in Cornelli’s voice and the 
sight of her swollen eyes went straight to 
Martha’s heart. 

“ Come and sit dowm on your little stool the 
way you used to in the old times, Cornelli,” 
she said lovingly, “ and I’ll tell you something 
that will help and console you. It has helped 
me, too, and still does when trouble comes. You 
see, Cornelli, I once had to go through a terrible 
sorrow just as great as yours is to-day. I had 
to give a child I loved back to God. So I cried, 
as loudly as you are crying and even louder: 
‘ No, I can’t do it, I can’t ! ’ The more I fought 
against it, the more terrible I felt, till in the end 
I even thought I should despair. So I cried 
178 


A NEW SORROW 


out in my heart: 4 Can nobody help me? ’ And 
then I suddenly knew who could do it. I knelt 
down and prayed to God: 4 Oh, give me help, 
for thou alone canst do it! ’ ” 

4 4 Can I stay here if I pray like that, 
Martha? Will God help me right away? ” 
asked Cornelli eagerly. 

“Yes, He will surely help you the way He 
knows is best for you, Cornelli. If it should 
be good for you to go away and you ask your 
Father in Heaven for help, He will bless your 
life away from home, so that it won’t be as hard 
as you have feared. If you pray to Him, you 
will get the firm assurance that nothing will be 
hard for you, because you have His help in 
everything you do. God is sure to ordain 
everything in such a wise way that happiness 
will come to you in the end.” 

“ Did you have to give Him your child after 
all? ” Cornelli wanted to know. 

44 Yes, God took it to Himself,” Martha 
answered. 

44 And could you get happy again, Martha?” 

44 Yes, yes. The pain was very great, but 
I was consoled by the thought of my child’s 
179 


CORNELLI 


peace. I knew how many ills he had been 
spared. God gave me the assurance that He 
meant well with both of us. With that thought 
I could grow happy again.” 

“ I want to go home, now,” said Cornelli, 
suddenly getting up. It seemed as if some- 
thing were drawing her away. 

“Yes, go now, child, and think of what I 
told you! ” said Martha, accompanying her. 

“ Yes, I will,” said Cornelli. She ran home 
quickly, because the desire to get to her room 
was urging her on. 

Cornelli had never prayed so earnestly and 
heartily as she did that day. Kneeling beside 
her bed, she confided all her sorrow to her 
Father in Heaven, and begged Him to make 
her happy once more. 


CHAPTER VIII 


A MOTHER 

W HEN Mr. Hellmut sat down to his 
coffee in the morning he always 
found letters and newspapers on the 
breakfast table. 

“ Good gracious!” he exclaimed on the 
morning after the ladies’ departure, “ what 
correspondents have you in town, Cornelli? 
Here is a letter for you.” 

Cornelli, looking up from her cup, glanced 
incredulously at the letter. 

“ It is really for you. Listen! Miss Cor- 
nelli Hellmut, Iller- Stream, Iron Foundry,” 
the father read. “ Here it is! ” 

Cornelli opened the letter under great sus- 
pense and read: 

Dear Cornelli: 

Only think! I am ill and have to lie in bed. The 
doctor has forbidden me to read and write, so this letter 
will be very short. It is very tiresome to be sick, for my 
sisters are in school all day. Mama always has a lot to 
181 


CORNELLI 


attend to and Mux is still a very useless little fellow. 
Could you not come here and pay me a little visit? I 
should love to see you and should enjoy hearing all about 
Iller-Stream. You could tell me all about good old 
Martha, whom I love nearly as much as a grandmother, 
about your little kid and Matthew, the horses and every- 
thing else, and especially about yourself. I always had 
such a good time with you that I should be terribly pleased 
if you came to visit me. Please come very, very soon ! 

Your faithful friend, 

Dino. 

When Cornelli was folding up the letter 
again, her father said: “ Can I read it, too? ” 

Cornelli promptly handed him her letter. 

“ What friend is this that wants you to come 
to visit him? ” the father asked with astonish- 
ment. “ I expect you to cry immediately, 
though, for you might have to go to town.” 

“ Oh, no, Papa, I really would love to see 
him,” said Cornelli. “ It is Dino, who stayed 
with Martha this summer.” 

The father put down his spoon from 
pure surprise and looked wonderingly at 
his daughter. 

“ How strange you are, Cornelli! ” he said 
182 


A MOTHER 


finally. “ Now you suddenly want to visit a 
strange family. You only know this boy and 
you do not hesitate about it and are not even 
shy about appearing in your present condition.” 

“ Dino knows me well and knows that I 
would come to see him alone. He will arrange 
everything for me so that I won’t have to see 
his mother or his sisters. He knows every- 
thing,” was Cornelli’s explanation. 

“ That has no sense at all,” the father said 
curtly, and gathering up his papers he 
went away. 

Soon afterwards he entered Martha’s 
little house. 

“ Here I am again. I wonder what you 
will say to me? ” he called to the surprised old 
woman. “ Here is a letter with an invitation 
which came for Cornelli to-day. It is from a 
boy who stayed with you. Who is he? Who 
are his parents? ” 

This question made Martha fairly over- 
flow with praises of the boy. She told Mr. 
Hellmut that she had never known a boy who 
was so polite and friendly to simple folks as 
this boy had been; he had been well brought up, 
183 


CORNELL! 


had the most refined and charming manners, 
and was well educated, and at the same time so 
simple and childishly devoted to old, plain 
Martha. She had never read letters like the 
mother’s letter to her son, so beautiful, affec- 
tionate and elevating. He had always read 
them to her, and she had had to cry every time 
from sheer emotion. She had never before 
seen as beautiful linen as the boy had worn, and 
it had all been his two sisters’ work. 

“ Martha,” the Director finally interrupted 
her, “ according to your account, it would be a 
great blessing for my daughter to spend even 
a day in such a family.” 

“ If you would really take her there, Di- 
rector, I certainly would be happy — ah! I 
would not know a greater happiness.” 

Martha had to wipe her eyes, she was 
so stirred. 

“ You shall know it, Martha. We’ll go to- 
morrow, and on the same evening you shall 
hear an account of all that happened.” With 
these words the Director seized her hand, and 
after shaking it heartily, departed. 

“ Get everything ready, Cornelli! We are 
184 


A MOTHER 


going to town to-morrow,” he called to his 
daughter, who sat on the garden bench quietly 
thinking. “ Esther shall call you early, at 
six o’clock.” 

“ Indeed, I shall,” came Esther’s voice 
through some open window. She was a 
good sentinel, for she always seemed to know 
what was going on in the house and its 
immediate neighborhood. 

Early next morning the two shiny brown 
horses were trotting down the valley. They 
had to go for four full hours, but that seemed a 
pure pleasure to them ; the longer they ran, the 
more spirit they seemed to get, and Matthew 
had to keep them from galloping all the time. 

In her corner Cornelli meditated as to how 
she could tell the maid at her arrival that she 
wanted to visit no one but Dino, and wanted 
to be taken straight to his room. She planned 
also to forbid Dino to call his sisters and his 
mother, for she wanted to see him alone. She 
would pay Dino a long visit and then steal 
quietly away without being noticed. She was 
also reflecting about everything she wanted to 

tell her friend. First of all, she had to tell him 
185 


CORNELLI 


that the news had at last come out regarding 
who had been standing on the sofa. She had told 
him all about this deep grief she had borne for 
so long. 

So they came to town much sooner than 
Cornelli had ever thought possible. The car- 
riage was already halting before the hotel 
where her father usually stopped, and Cornelli 
jumped down. 

“ Shall I come back again in four hours. 
Papa? ” she asked. “ I can find my way alone, 
for Dino has described it to me.” 

“ Stop, stop! That is not the way; I am 
coming, too,” the father said. 

Cornelli was quite sorry not to be able to 
start off alone, for that had been her plan. 
Now everything was quite different. 

As Dino had written his exact address in 
his letter and the Director knew his way about 
town very well, they passed quickly from street 
to street till they reached a narrow little lane. 
Here stood the house they had been seeking. 
When finally four high stairs had been 

climbed, the Director stood on the highest nar- 
186 


A MOTHER 


row step where the door took up half of the 
standing room. 

“If the inhabitants correspond to their 
dwelling place, we shall probably not remain 
here very long/’ he said, looking up doubtfully 
at the inconvenient entrance. 

“ Dino does not correspond,” said Cornelli 
quickly. She had not quite understood her 
father’s words, but felt them to be an attack on 
her friend. 

“ Climb up there, Cornelli, ahd pull the 
bell-rope ! ” he commanded. “ When the door 
is open I’ll probably find room to stand 
there, too.” 

Cornelli obeyed. A slender girl a good 
deal taller than Cornelli opened the door and 
looked with surprise at the new arrivals through 
a pair of dark and serious eyes. Cornelli 
retreated suddenly. 

“ Well, what I see is not very dreadful,” 
the Director said, stepping forward. 

How do you do, child. Is your mother at 
home, and can I speak to her a moment? ” 

The girl who had opened the door was Nika. 
With great politeness she led the gentleman to 
187 


CORNELLI 


a room and informed him that she would go at 
once to fetch her mother, who was with her 
sick brother. 

Upon her polite invitation the Director fol- 
lowed her, and settled down in an arm-chair. 
He looked about him with astonishment at the 
small but scrupulously neat room, which was 
decorated with several charming pictures. 

When Nika neared the door, Cornelli said 
to her in a low voice : “ I want to visit Dino.” 

“ Come, Ell show you the way,” came a 
small voice from behind the door. It was Mux, 
who had quickly hidden there to peep with curi- 
ous eyes at the new arrivals. He came out and 
seizing Cornelli’s hand, pulled her away with 
him. The mother had heard the stranger’s 
voice and at this moment entered from an 
adjoining chamber. 

“ She does not correspond, either, as Cor- 
nelli puts it,” the Director said to himself with 
a smile. He rose and introduced himself. 
“ Following your son’s summons, Mrs. Halm, 
I have brought you my daughter,” he said. 

“ She can stay a few hours with her sick friend, 
188 


A MOTHER 


if that suits you, and then she can join me 
again at my hotel.” 

“ I am so much obliged to you for the great 
favor of bringing her. My son has looked for- 
ward so much to this visit. We all know and 
love Cornelli already from what he has told us 
about her. She has been so kind to him and 
has entertained him so well when he was alone 
in I Her- Stream that she has earned his and my 
sincere thanks. Could I not beg of you to leave 
Cornelli here for a few days, or at least for all 
of to-day? ” 

“ You are very kind, Mrs. Halm,” he re- 
plied, quite astonished to hear that his shy, un- 
friendly child should have furnished the boy 
any entertainment. “ Those are just polite 
words,” he said to himself, but aloud he added: 
“ I am afraid that it won’t be possible, for my 
child would not stay. She is very shy and has 
all kinds of peculiar habits, as you probably 
have noticed from her looks. Your daughter 
certainly looks different.” 

“ I shall not keep Cornelli here against her 
will, of course, but may I hope to have your 
permission if the child should want to stay? ” 
189 


CORNELLI 


The rector’s widow had such a pleasing 
manner that it was hard to refuse her any- 
thing. The Director therefore gladly assented, 
for it was his wish as well as hers. 

“ Certainly, Mrs. Halm, I shall joyfully 
give it,” he assured her. “ What could please 
me more than to have my daughter in surround- 
ings like these? But I am perfectly certain 
that Cornelli will desire to go back with me. 
Just the same, I want to thank you sincerely 
for your great kindness; it will help her, 
to spend even a single day in your charm- 
ing household.” 

The Director said farewell and departed. 
At the entrance door down stairs a school girl, 
carrying her schoolbag and books, ran towards 
him so violently that a collision could not be 
avoided, so the Director opened his arms wide 
and caught Agnes in them. Agnes always ap- 
proached everything like a wind storm. She 
could not behave otherwise. The Director 
laughed heartily and so did Agnes. 

“ I am sure you belong to Mrs. Halm, too,” 

he said, looking with pleasure at the lively face 
190 


A MOTHER 


with the wide-open, bright eyes. How nice and 
trim everything was about her ! 

“Yes, indeed,” she replied quickly, and 
ran away. 

“ What a happy mother, what a happy 
woman! ” said the Director to himself. “ And 
to compare my child to such children. I can- 
not bear it! Such children, and mine 
beside them! ” 

Dino had told his mother about his experi- 
ences in Iller-Stream and especially of his ac- 
quaintance with Cornelli. He had also related 
to her the child’s strange trouble, but she had 
had to give her promise to keep it to herself. 
It did not seem wrong to Dino to tell his mother, 
because she always knew everything he knew. 
When the invitation had been sent to Cornelli, 
Mrs. Halm had seriously told the children not 
to make any remarks about Cornelli’s hair in 
case she should come. She had told them not 
to show any surprise if Cornelli wore her hair 
in a rather strange fashion and not to notice it 
further; that was the way the mother wished 
it to be. 

Little Mux was very much pleased at hav- 
191 


CORNELLI 


ing a new companion. He looked upon her as 
an old acquaintance, for Dino had talked so 
much about her. First he took her to see 
the kitchen. 

“ But I am sure Dino does not sleep here,” 
said Cornelli, surprised. 

“No, this is the kitchen; there are no beds 
here,” Mux asserted. “ But I shall show you 
first why Agnes cried one whole hour to-day, 
or perhaps it was two.” And Mux led his new 
friend to a whole pile of apple peels which lay 
in a bucket. “ Isn’t Agnes stupid to cry when 
we get good apple tarts afterwards.” 

“ But why did she cry? ” asked Cornelli, 
full of sympathy. She knew exactly what it 
was like when one simply had to cry. 

“ We don’t know,” retorted Mux. 

“ But why does the maid not peel the 
apples ? ” asked Cornelli again. 

“ There is no maid, except block-headed 
Trina,” Mux informed her. 

“ Who is block-headed Trina? ” Cornelli 
wanted to know. 

“ She has to help ; she is small and fat,” Mux 
described her. “ Mama has to show her how to 
192 


A MOTHER 


cook, and she has to fetch what we need and 
always brings the wrong thing. So Dino says : 
‘ We really must send block-headed Trina 
away.’ And then Mama says: ‘ Trina has to 
live, too.’ And then she is not sent away 
after all.” 

Cornelli had great sympathy for Agnes, 
who apparently had a secret trouble like her 
own ; she did not have to be afraid of her, as she 
was of the proud sister who had received her. 

“ I am sure, Mux, that your other sister 
never cries. Are you not afraid of her? ” 
asked Cornelli. 

“Not the least little bit,” replied the little 
boy. “ She often makes a face, though, as if 
she wanted to cry and a thousand, thousand 
times she begins to when nobody knows why. 
I don’t know why, either, for she doesn’t 
tell me.” 

Immediately Cornelli’s great shyness of 
Nika changed into great pity. If Nika could 
not even talk about her sorrow, she might have 
the deepest sorrow of all. 

“ Now we shall go to Dino,” she said, hurry- 
13 19s 


CORNELL! 

ing to the door which the little boy had pointed 
out to her. 

“ But wait! I shall first show you our big 
picture book. You’ll love it,” Mux assured 
her. “ There is something in it that looks just 
like you ; it is an owl that has rags over its eyes 
like you. But you must not talk about it, be- 
cause Mama has forbidden it.” 

“ No, no, I don’t want to see the book. 
Please take me to Dino now,” Cornelli urged. 

Mux pulled Cornelli away from the kitchen 
at last and, not far from there, opened a door. 

“ Are you coming at last, Cornelli? ” Dino 
cried to her. He was sitting up in bed. He 
glanced happily at his approaching friend, and 
Cornelli, too, felt deep joy at seeing him again. 
The hours she had spent with him had been the 
only happy ones she had had all summer. 
Quickly sitting down by his bed, she began to 
relate to him everything that had happened in 
Iller-Stream since his departure. Dino asked 
many questions that Cornelli had to answer, 
and the time went by they knew not how. 

Mux had disappeared. As long as he could 
not have his new friend’s whole attention, he 
194 



“there ts something tn tt that looks just ltke you: it ts an owl that has 

RAGS OVER ITS EYES LIKE YOU*’ 



A MOTHER 


preferred to find out what was being prepared 
for dinner in the kitchen. 

Now the mother entered the room. 

“ I have hardly seen you yet, dear child,” 
she said, taking Cornelli’s hand, “ but I thought 
I would leave you and Dino undisturbed for a 
little while. You must have many things to talk 
over about your experiences and friends in 
Iller- Stream. Dino has looked forward so much 
to your visit. Please come to lunch now. Dino 
has to sleep a little while afterwards, and then 
you can go back to him again, if you wish.” 

A difficult moment had now come for Cor- 
nelli. She had secretly hoped that she would 
be able to spend all day alone with Dino, and 
that nobody else would notice her. Now she 
had to sit at table with Dino’s mother and 
sisters. Mux, however, was her consolation; 
he seemed so confiding and so friendly. She 
had felt immediately to her great discomfort 
how different and how horrible she looked in 
comparison with these charming children. 
When she had stood in front of Nika, who was 
so very pretty, she felt sure that the elder girl 
must be filled with disgust at the sight of her, 
195 


CORNELLI 


even if she did not show it. Mux had seen her 
peculiarity immediately and had remarked upon 
it. And now Agnes would be there, too. 

That Agnes, as well as the proud-looking 
Nika, had a secret sorrow made Cornelli feel 
as if there were a bond between them. This 
gave her a little courage to follow Dino’s 
mother, who was waiting in the doorway. When 
Cornelli entered Agnes was standing, full of 
expectation, in the middle of the room. Going 
up to the visitor, she shook her hand. 

“ I am so glad you came, Cornelli,” she 
said with animation. “ Dino has talked so 
much about you that we, too, wanted to 
meet you.” 

“ I want to sit beside you,” said Mux, drag- 
ging his chair to Cornelli’s side. 

“ Just stay where you are! That is my 
seat,” Agnes cut him short. She could not be 
misunderstood, for she pushed back the chair 
and Mux quite vigorously. 

The mother had again gone out to the 
kitchen, so he could not get her help, which 
made him very angry. 

“ Yes, yes, you always want to order every- 
196 


A MOTHER 


body around all the time,” he cried out furi- 
ously, “ and you even broke somebody on the 
wheel, once.” 

Now the mother entered. 

“ Oh, Mama, Mux is saying such frightful 
things. Shouldn’t he go to bed? ” Agnes called 
to her. 

Mux was just gathering up his strength to 
fight against this proposed punishment, when 
the mother cut short their quarrel. 

“ No, no,” she said kindly. “ To-day Cor- 
nelli is here for the first time and it is a feast 
day for us. Mux shall not go to bed, but he 
must sit down quietly in his chair and say grace ; 
then all will be well.” 

Mux was soon calmed by the soothing words 
and the good soup’s delicious odor which pene- 
trated his nostrils. So he said grace in quite a 
tolerable manner. Cornelli had been very 
much touched by his desire to sit beside her. 
She was anxious to do him a favor, too, and 
she tried to think of something that might 
please him. 

Directly after lunch Nika and Agnes had 
to hurry off to school again and the mother had 
197 


CORNELLI 


to supervise Trina’s work, so Mux was en- 
trusted with the task of entertaining Cornelli 
for a little while. That suited him exactly. 

“ Now, I’ll show you that Agnes has 
really broken a man on the wheel,” he 
said triumphantly. 

“ But I don’t believe it. Mux. And why 
should the man have held still? ” asked Cornelli. 

“You can read it here. See, it is written 
there! ” said Mux, placing his picture book on 
Cornelli’s lap and pointing to a splendid colored 
picture. “ Read what is written here,” he di- 
rected. “ Dino once read it aloud to me and 
then I knew it.” 

Cornelli read aloud: “Agnes orders Ru- 
dolph von Warth to be bound to the wheel.” 

“ Now you see it,” Mux said complacently. 

Cornelli did not quite know what the pic- 
ture was supposed to mean, so she began to 
read the story that explained it. She read more 
eagerly each instant, for it was described so 
vividly that she had to consume one page 
after another. 

“ Now you know it,” said Mux a little im- 
patiently. “ Now look at the goat wagon.” 

198 


A MOTHER 


“ But Mux,” Cornelli said eagerly, “ it is 
quite a different Agnes, it is a queen. You 
must never think any more that your sister has 
done such a dreadful thing.” 

“ Oh, but look at the goat wagon, now,” 
begged Mux, a little disappointed. 

“ Why is the child here crying on the road ? 
Just look how he is pressing his hands up to his 
eyes! Oh, he is so unhappy! Do you 
know why? ” 

Mux shook his head. 

“ Then I have to read it quickly,” said Cor- 
nelli. She became so absorbed in the story that 
she did not notice how Mux was pulling her 
and urging her to stop reading ; he even shook 
the book. 

The mother came into the room now and 
said: “ Dino has shortened his rest a little, for 
he is longing to see you again, Cornelli. Will 
you come? ” 

Cornelli immediately shut the book, for she 
was extremely glad to go to her friend. She 
felt some regret, however, at having to leave 
the story unfinished; she would have loved to 
know what happened further. 

199 


CORNELLI 


“ So you like the book? It was the joy of 
all my children from the oldest to the young- 
est/’ said the mother. Cornelli’s regretful 
glance at it had not escaped her. “You can 
look at it again later on, for we still have lots 
of time.” 

But Cornelli had to talk over so many 
things with Dino that the time had passed be- 
fore they had thought it possible, and it was 
not long before Mux came running with the 
message that supper was ready. The meal had 
to be early because Cornelli had to leave imme- 
diately after it. 

“ Oh, what a shame! ” said Cornelli, jump- 
ing up because she knew her father did not 
like to wait. 

“ Bring mother here, Mux,” said Dino, and 
the little one departed. “ Wouldn’t you like 
to stay with us a few days, Cornelli? It would 
be so nice. Wouldn’t you like to? Oh, I think 
you would ! ” said Dino eagerly. 

Cornelli had quite a strange sensation. She 
hardly dared to say yes ; it seemed so incredible 
to her that everybody in the house should be so 
friendly to her and really want her to stay. 
200 


A MOTHER 


But that probably would not last if she re- 
mained and they got to know her better. Soon 
the mother came in with Mux. The little boy 
had heard Dino’s last words to Cornelli and 
had already announced to his mother that Cor- 
nelli was sure to stay, because Dino would not 
let her go. 

“ Oh, I am so glad that you have settled it 
all between you ! I am so pleased that you are 
going to stay, Cornelli,” she said, full of joy. 
“ I was just going to propose it to you, and I 
am so glad that Dino has persuaded you. Your 
father has already given me his permission and 
all I have to do is to let him know right away. 
Now you can stay quietly together, for there 
is no hurry about supper.” 

The mother immediately wrote to Mr. 
Hellmut, and soon after that, fat little Trina 
was running over to the hotel. 

Cornelli had again settled down beside Dino 
with a mixed feeling of wonderful delight and 
fear. He noticed her timidity. 

“ Oh, yes, Dino, I love to stay with you 
and Mux,” she assured him. “ Your mother 
is so good to me, too, but I am afraid of your 
201 


CORNELLI 


two sisters. I have to think of poor little block- 
headed Trina all the time, when she does every- 
thing wrong and does not know how to do 
otherwise; you all despise her for it and she 
can’t help it. I know what it is like to be 
so block-headed.” 

Dino had to laugh a little. 

“ Why do you suddenly think of our 
Trina? ” he asked. “ Do not worry about her, 
for mother is very good to her. Just be happy, 
Cornelli, and do not imagine all kinds of things 
about block-headed Trina.” 

Cornelli did not say another word, but Dino 
noticed that she kept on thinking just the 
same. After a while the mother came to an- 
nounce that it was time for Dino’s rest. The 
prospect of seeing each other again on the fol- 
lowing day was a great consolation to 
them both. 

Then Cornelli and the mother went back to 
the room where the sisters were sitting at their 
school work. Mux was bending over his pic- 
ture book, hatching out new ideas, no doubt. 
Just then the half grown Trina entered with a 
basket on her arm. While she was passing 
202 


A MOTHER 


Nika’s chair, her basket got caught on it. Pull- 
ing violently to free it, she turned the chair 
around quite suddenly. 

“You are getting more awkward every 
day, Trina,” Nika said crossly. 

Cornelli blushed. She felt as if these words 
were meant for her as well. She must be just 
as awkward in Nika’s eyes as Trina was. The 
latter failed to excuse herself and from em- 
barrassment became more clumsy in her move- 
ments. Cornelli understood this perfectly ; that 
was what she always did, she knew it quite well. 

“ Now we shall have supper,” said the 
mother,” and when the children’s work is done 
we shall all sing together. Don’t you sing, 
too, Cornelli? ” 

“ I probably do not know the songs, and so 
I can’t sing,” she replied shyly. 

After supper Mux fled back to Cornelli 
with his book. He wanted to renew his con- 
versation with her,, but his mother had a 
different plan. 

“ Give your book to Cornelli, for it is time 
for you to retire,” she said. “ You can join us 
again to-morrow.” 


203 


CORNELLI 


Mux departed reluctantly. 

When his mother was firmly leading him 
away, he was still able to call to Cornelli: “ Be 
sure not to go till I come back ! ” 

Cornelli felt quite frightened when her con- 
fiding little friend had gone. Now for the first 
time she was left alone with the two sisters. 
She wondered what would happen. But noth- 
ing happened. They were both so deeply 
occupied with their work that they did not even 
raise their heads. Cornelli now remembered 
the lovely story book. She had already begun 
a story and she simply had to know how it 
would end. So she began to read. As soon as 
she finished one story, a new wonderful picture 
would lead her to another story. 

Suddenly some splendid music sounded 
close beside her, and Cornelli started. Agnes 
was sitting at the piano close to her side and 
playing. Cornelli could not read any more, 
for Agnes played one lovely tune after another 
as quickly and easily as if it did not cause her 
any trouble. She knew from Dino that Agnes 
was not much more than a year older than she 

was. She listened with admiration to the beau- 
204 


A MOTHER 


tiful melodies that were pouring forth from 
the instrument. Finally the mother returned. 
She had made her nightly visit to Dino and 
had had several things to say to him. 

“ Mama,” Agnes called to her eagerly, “ I 
am playing all the merry pieces I know to-night, 
for I have just finished my long composition.” 

“You are right, Agnes. And how are you 
getting along with your painting, Nika? ” 
asked the mother. 

Nika replied quite sadly that she had hoped 
to finish it that day, but the days were very 
short now and she could not paint by lamp 
light. Her mother should see how little her 
work still lacked. 

“If I had one hour more of daylight, I 
could finish it,” she sighed. 

Nika placed a large painting under the 
bright lamp. It somewhat resembled the beau- 
tiful pictures which decorated the walls of the 
room. The colors in it were perfectly wonder- 
ful, and Cornelli had never before seen such a 
lovely picture. Sparkling crimson roses were 
hanging down an old wall and dense ivy was 
creeping up between them with shiny green 
205 


CORNELL! 


leaves. An old oak tree was stretching large 
gnarled branches over the decayed wall, and 
below, a clear stream was peacefully flowing 
out to a meadow, where glowing red and blue 
flowers seemed to greet it joyfully. 

Cornelli stared at the lovely picture; she 
had never seen anything like this glittering 
stream, the painted trees and flowers; one 
seemed to hear the murmuring of the brook, 
far, far away through the meadow. It was all 
so full of life! And to think that Nika had 
painted it! Cornelli felt as if a deep, deep gulf 
lay between her and the two sisters, a chasm 
that separated her from them forever. 

The two sisters seemed to stand before her 
like two splendid creatures, full of beauty and 
fine gifts, while she stood there a stupid, awk- 
ward, block-headed Trina, whom nobody on 
earth ever could possibly love. Mrs. Halm 
gave Nika great encouragement by praising 
her work and urging her to begin promptly 
next day. 

Then she sat down at the piano, for they al- 
ways concluded their evening with a song. 

Cornelli remained still. The rector’s wife 
206 


A MOTHER 


urged her to join them, but Cornelli had had 
too many impressions that day to be able to 
sing. She knew quite well the old evening 
song that they were singing, for Martha had 
taught it to her long ago, but she felt as if she 
could not utter a note. 

At the end of the song Agnes suddenly ex- 
ploded: “ Oh, mother, that is nothing at all. 
When you are hoarse and Dino is in bed, our 
singing is frightful. Nika only squeaks like a 
little chicken with a sore throat.” 

“ Well, then one has to stop singing,” said 
Nika, shaking her shoulders a little proudly. 

“No, the whole household has to sing, 
otherwise it is not worth anything,” Agnes de- 
clared. “ It is a shame that the most beautiful 
thing in the world should be so little practiced.” 

After the song was ended the mother took 
Cornelli kindly by the hand and said : “ I am 
sure that you are tired, dear child. I am going 
to take you to a tiny bedroom, for I have no 
larger one. Your door leads into Agnes’ and 
Nika’s room,” she continued, when she was 

standing with Cornelli in the little chamber. 

207 


CORNELLI 


“ You can open the door and then you are prac- 
tically all three in a single room.” 

Then she said good-night cordially and 
wished Cornelli a good rest. 

Nika and Agnes quickly said good-night, 
too, and then Cornelli was alone in her room. 

She had no desire to open the door, for her 
shyness had only increased since her arrival. 
How high the two stood above her! Cornelli 
was not a bit sleepy and kept on thinking of all 
the things that had happened to her that day. 

What did Agnes mean when she spoke 
about the most beautiful thing in the world? 
Did she mean singing? That was not the most 
beautiful thing by any means. The most won- 
derful of all was a painting like Nika’s, with 
lovely roses and trees and the meadow with 
clear water. At last Cornelli’s eyes closed, but 
she kept on seeing the flowers and seemed to be 
looking up admiringly at Nika, who stood be- 
side her, tall and beautiful. Cornelli thought : 
If she would only say one pleasant word to me. 
Then Nika turned around to her and said: 

“ You are an awkward, block-headed Cor- 
208 


A MOTHER 


nelli!” All this Cornelli saw and heard in 
her dream. 

Agnes said to her sister in the other room : 
“ If only Cornelli would say something! One 
cannot tell what she is thinking about. How 
could Dino find her so amusing, and become 
her friend? She sits there all the time and 
never says a word.” 

“ That is her least fault,” Nika returned. 
“ But it is horrid that she insists on looking like 
a wild islander. I do not understand why 
Mama did not push the frightful locks out of 
her eyes.” 


14 


CHAPTER IX 


A GREAT CHANGE 

N EXT morning Mux had hardly opened 
his eyes when he desired to go again 
straightway to Cornelli, for this had 
been promised him the night before. Before 
he succeeded, however, he had to submit to his 
usual fate in the morning. He ran into the 
room at last, neatly washed and combed and 
with cheeks shining like two red apples. Cor- 
nelli was already sitting in a corner of the room, 
listening attentively to Agnes’ playing. He 
flew towards her and saw his beloved book al- 
ready in her hands. 

“ Oh, now we shall read and tell stories all 
day long,” he called out happily. “ All the 
others have to go to school.” 

But Mux had forgotten that breakfast 
came first of all. After the meal the two sisters 
departed, but Dino knocked and clamored for 
Cornelli to come to him. Mux loudly protested 
against this and only calmed down when Cor- 
210 


A GREAT CHANGE 


nelli promised to keep him company during 
Dino’s rest hour. He kept on objecting and 
murmuring to himself even after she had gone. 

Cornelli was quite thrilled and overcome 
by the thought that anybody should love her 
so, and it did her more good than anything 
else. As soon as she came to Dino’s room he 
asked her if she would read to him, too, for he 
had found out how much she enjoyed reading 
to Mux out of his picture book. 

“ Have you entertaining books, too? ” asked 
Cornelli with hesitation. In her mind she saw 
her own beautiful books at home, that she had 
left alone because so many things in them had 
been unintelligible. 

“ I should say so! You just ought to see 
them,” said Dino. “ Please take down the 
book called ‘ Funny Journeys.’ There are 
pictures in it, too. They are not as big as in 
the other hook and are not colored, but they 
are so comical that they make one laugh all 
the time.” 

Cornelli got the book down, and in a little 
while merry peals of laughter filled the room. 
The mother, who heard, was happily smiling 
211 


CORNELLI 


and saying to herself: ‘‘No, no, all is not 
yet lost.” 

So the week passed by. Cornelli spent most 
of her time reading aloud to Dino and to Mux. 
She grew more eager all the time in this occu- 
pation, and if Mux would suddenly want to 
play with soldiers, Cornelli would say: “ You 
can easily play that alone. Let me read this 
and later I’ll tell you all about it.” So she had 
soon finished reading the whole big book. 

Cornelli had so far scarcely become ac- 
quainted with the two girls, and Nika had rarely 
spoken to her. On Saturday morning the 
mother entered Dino’s room just after Cor- 
nelli had finished reading such a funny tale 
that both children still laughed aloud at 
the remembrance. 

“ Children, to-morrow Cornelli’s father is 
expecting to hear from me. He will want to 
know if he is to come to fetch her home, or if he 
is to leave her here another week. Cornelli 
herself shall decide, but we all want her to stay.” 

“ Don’t go, don’t go ! Tell him not to come 
for a long while,” Mux implored her. The little 
boy had slipped in behind his mother and was 
212 


A GREAT CHANGE 


keeping a tight hold on Cornelli, as if her papa 
might come at once to pull her away. 

“ No, no, Cornelli, you won’t go away yet,” 
Dino now said. “ To-morrow I am allowed to 
get up for the first time and you must be there 
to see if I can still walk. After that you must 
stay here till I go to school; won’t you, Cor- 
nelli? You don’t want to go, do you? ” 

“You must not urge her too much,” said 
the mother. “ Maybe Cornelli would rather 
go home, and by your talking you might keep 
her from saying so.” But being urged by the 
two children was such a joy to Cornelli that she 
never even hesitated. 

“ I should love to stay,” she said. 

“Oh, how splendid!” Dino exclaimed. 
“ Please ask for at least two or three weeks, 
Mama. It is so nice to have Cornelli with us.” 

“ I shall ask Cornelli’s father to let us have 
hi§ daughter a while longer,” said the mother, 
“ I cannot possibly settle the time, her father 
will do that.” 

“ Oh, yes, a while longer is just right. Then 

it is so easy to ask for a little more time, for we 
213 


CORNELLI 


can say that we meant that by a little longer,” 
said Dino. 

The same day, later on, while Dino was 
resting, Cornelli was sitting with Mux. They 
were both so happy over the prospect of re- 
maining together that Mux opened the piano 
and asked Cornelli to sing with him. Cornelli 
could not play, so promised that she would try 
to sing. She asked Mux to choose a song, but 
he knew none. 

“ You sing one,” he proposed, “ and I 
might know it, too.” 

Cornelli was just in the mood to sing once 
more. She began a song with her bright, full 
voice and Mux listened admiringly. 

The snow’s on the meadow. 

The snow’s all around. 

The snow lies in heaps 
All over the ground. 

Hurrah, oh hurrah! 

All over the ground. 

Oh cuckoo from the woods. 

Oh flowers so bright, 

Oh, kindliest sun, 

214 


A GREAT CHANGE 


Come and bring us delight ! 

Hurrah, oh hurrah ! 
Come and bring us delight ! 

When the swallow comes back 
And the finches all sing, 

I sing and I dance 

For joy of the Spring. 
Hurrah, oh hurrah ! 

For joy of the Spring. 


Suddenly the door flew open and Agnes 
burst into the room. 

“ But why didn’t you ever say anything? ” 
she cried out. “ To think of it! Why did you 
never say a word, Cornelli? ” 

“ But what should I have said? ” Cornelli 
asked, very much frightened. 

“ You must not be afraid,” Mux now 
calmed her, “ I’ll help you, if she should want 
to hurt you.” 

“ Don’t be so unnaturally stupid, Mux ! ” 
his sister ejaculated as she ran to the next room. 
Here her mother was already standing in the 
open door. “ Have you heard it, Mother? 

Come out and let Cornelli sing her song again!” 

215 


CORNELL! 


“ Yes, indeed! I have heard it with pleas- 
ure and great wonder,” said the mother, ap- 
proaching Cornelli. “ You have a voice, dear 
child, that we all should love to hear again. 
Have you often sung before? ” 

“ Oh yes,” said Cornelli. “ Martha has 

taught me many songs, but ” 

“ What do you mean by but? ” Agnes 
quickly interrupted her. “ I know now what a 
voice you have. I have to go quickly to my 
music lesson, but you must sing a lot with me 
to-night. No huts will be allowed then.” 

“ Oh, Cornelli, won’t you sing with us to- 
night? ” asked the mother kindly. “We know 
now how well it sounds, and I do not see why 
you should still hesitate.” 

“ I can’t sing properly when I am afraid, 
for then it does not sound well,” Cornelli replied. 

“Why should you be afraid?” asked the 
mother. “ You know us all so well now.” 

“ Oh, because I am not like Agnes and 
Nika. I can’t do anything they do and I don’t 
look the way they do,” said Cornelli. With 

these words she frowned again in the old way, 
216 


A GREAT CHANGE 


so that one could see it through the thick fringes 
of hair that covered her forehead. 

The mother said no more and went out. 

“ J ust stay with me, Cornelli ; then you 
don’t have to be afraid of anything,” Mux said 
protectingly. “ I am afraid of nothing in the 
whole world — except of the dark,” he added 
quickly, for he had seen Cornelli’s penetrating 
eyes looking at him through her hair, and felt 
that he had to tell the truth, for she was sure to 
find him out. “ No,” he continued, “ I won’t 
be even afraid of that if you stay with me all 
the time.” 

Agnes had finished her school work sooner 
than ever that day. She ran to the piano and 
called to Cornelli : “ Come here ! Mux can play 
alone, for we must sing now.” 

So Cornelli went up to the piano. 

“ I shall sing the first stanza of this song 
and then you can sing it with me the second 
time,” Agnes said and began: “ The beauteous 
moon is risen.” 

“ Oh, I have known that song a long time. 
Shall I sing the second voice? ” asked Cornelli. 

“What? Can you really sing second 
217 


CORNELL! 


voice? Can you really do it? Oh, that would 
be wonderful! Go ahead and do it!” said 
Agnes excitedly. 

So the two girls sang alone together, for 
Nika had not finished her work, and the regular 
time for the evening songs had not yet come. 
Agnes was radiantly happy while she was mak- 
ing experiments with a new voice. 

Nika was still absorbed in her work, the 
mother only entered the room now and then, 
and as Agnes was singing with her, Cornelli 
did not have the feeling that anybody was list- 
ening. So she sang quite freely and let her 
whole, full voice flow out. Agnes became more 
eager all the time, and it really sounded as if a 
whole chorus were singing in the room. 

At last the mother stood still, and Nika, 
lifting her head from her work, listened, too. 

When the song was done, Agnes clapped 
her hands and said : “ Oh, Cornelli, your voice 
is as clear as a bell! Oh, if I only had a voice 
like that ! What wonderful things I could sing 
then! Do you know many songs, Cornelli? 
Just tell me all you know.” 

Cornelli looked over the song book before 
218 


A GREAT CHANGE 


her. She knew quite a number of the songs in 
it, for Martha had taught her many. 

Agnes was in raptures: 4 4 Oh, now our 
evening songs won’t be like a feeble chirping 
any more; now everything, everything will be 
different ! ” she cried out. Suddenly struck 
with a new idea, she ran over to her other 
music books. 

She got a book of songs for two voices, 
which she had only been able to use at her 
music lessons and never at home, for Nika 
could not join her. “ Come, Cornelli, try to 
sing after me now. This is your part, and when 
you know it, I’ll sing mine. Here are your 
notes,” she instructed Cornelli, and with that 
she began to sing. 

Cornelli did not know the notes very well, 
because Mr. Maelinger had not instructed her 
very deeply in that subject. Her ear, how- 
ever, was correct, and she could immediately 
repeat a melody. Agnes began with the easiest 
songs, and it did not take Cornelli any time to 
learn them. She soon knew where to pause and 
where to take up her part again. So a second 
piece was started and soon a third. Then they 

219 


CORNELLI 


repeated them all again and before long they 
could sing three songs quite well. 

“ Once more, once more,” Agnes urged her. 
It went better every time, and in the end they 
sang together perfectly. Agnes jumped up 
from her seat and exclaimed: “ Oh, you are a 
wonderful Cornelli ! Who would have thought 
it? Please do not go home yet. Stay here, 
and then we can sing together every day. Have 
you heard it, Mama? ” 

The mother affirmed it and told them that 
she and Dino had both enjoyed the singing. 
Dino had asked to have his door kept open, for 
he had wanted to hear it all. 

“ Do you know what we’ll do, Cornelli? ” 
said Agnes. “ To-morrow morning we’ll 
study a festive duet. We shall greet Dino 
with it when he comes back to this room again 
for the first time.” 

Cornelli gladly agreed. 

It was time now for their accustomed eve- 
ning song, which had been put off longer than 
usual that day. Agnes was of the decided 
opinion that it was not suitable to end this day 

with a mild evening song. She suggested a 
220 


A GREAT CHANGE 


loud hymn of praise and thanks. She 
started it with enthusiasm, and all the others 
soon joined. 

The unexpected joy and great friendliness 
Agnes had shown had made Cornelli so happy 
and astonished that she sat a long time on her 
bed in the little room. She was wondering to 
herself why she could never be quite happy in 
spite of everybody’s goodness, but she knew 
soon enough why this was so. Her old fear 
had not left her. She fully realized that she 
looked different from other children and that 
her horns would get worse, till they could not 
be hidden any more. Then everybody would 
think what Mux had thought, even if they did 
not say it. 

Next morning, when Cornelli had just got- 
ten up, Mrs. Halm entered her room. “ Cor- 
nelli,” she said, taking the child’s hand, “ you 
have made us all so happy! You have done 
much for Dino by helping him to pass many 
pleasant hours, and you have entertained my 
little restless Mux so wonderfully that he can 
hardly live without you any more. I should 

like to do something for you now; I should love 

221 


CORNELL! 


to make you look festive to-day and get rid 
forever of everything that disfigures you.” 

The mother had already begun to smooth 
out the child’s thick hair. 

“ Oh no, oh no, please don’t do it! ” Cor- 
nelli cried out, “ then everything will be lost. 
I want to go home, oh, I must go home! Oh, 
they will all laugh at me and they won’t like me 
any more. Oh, you don’t know how it is.” 

“ I know everything, dear child,” the 
mother said quietly. “ Dino has told me every- 
thing. Don’t you know, child, that I love you ? 
You know, Cornelli, that I would not do any- 
thing that might hurt you the least bit, or that 
would not help you. I want to free you from 
an error, Cornelli.” 

“ No, no, it is not an error, surely not,” 
Cornelli called out in her great anxiety. “ My 
cousin said it and Miss Grideelen said it, too. 
They saw it, and I know it. Oh, please don’t 
brush my hair away.” 

“ Cornelli,” the mother went on calmly, 
“ the ladies told you they saw little horns on 
your forehead, that got bigger every time you 

wrinkled up your brow. You are afraid that 

222 


A GREAT CHANGE 


this is really so and that it is getting worse. 
You understood it in a way they did not mean. 
They only wanted to tell you that when you 
frowned you looked as if you had horns on 
your forehead, and they said it to keep you 
from frowning. They meant well by you, but 
you misunderstood them. But you can under- 
stand me. Just let me help you to be 
happy again. 

“ Have you any confidence in me, Cornelli? 
Tell me, do you think that I would do anything 
that would make you repulsive in the eyes of* 
everyone? Do you believe that? I know you 
don’t, child ! ” Cornelli only groaned a little. 

With nimble hands the mother had in the 
meantime kept on smoothing and combing the 
child’s heavy hair. It already lay beautifully 
parted on both sides of her face. The brown, 
wavy hair framed a snow-white brow, for not 
a ray of sunshine had penetrated through the 
hair all summer long. The mother finished the 
two heavy tresses and wound them about Cor- 
nelli’s head like a crown. Smilingly the mother 
looked into Cornelli’s face. The great change 

had thrilled her with joy. 

223 


CORNELL! 


“ Now come with me to the children. We 
shall see if they can notice any change,” she 
said, and taking the little girl’s hand, she led 
her away. Cornelli was extremely glad to 
enter the room at the mother’s side, for she 
would not have dared to go alone. When the 
door opened, she looked shyly at the floor. 

Mux had already been waiting for his com- 
panion and now ran to meet her. 4 4 What have 
you done, Cornelli?” he cried out in sudden 
surprise. 44 Your forehead looks quite clean 
and neat, and you have shiny eyes like a canary 
bird, and you don’t look like an owl any more.” 

44 Why Cornelli! You are transformed!” 
Agnes exclaimed. 44 Just let me see you. Make 
a little room, Mux ! No, I don’t know you any 
more. It is fortunate you did it, for it is a 
pleasure to look at you now.” 

44 Your mother has done it,” Cornelli ex- 
plained confusedly, for she was quite overcome 
at all these manifestations of joy. 

Nika also glanced up at her. 44 You are a 
different child, Cornelli, and I do not see how 
you could ever have gotten the way you were.” 

These words were said in such a charming 

224 


A GREAT CHANGE 


manner that a deep sensation of well-being 
filled Cornelli. She tried to fight against it, 
however, for she did not think it possible that 
she should suddenly become freed from her hor- 
rible, sickening fear. 

Agnes was very anxious to practice their 
song for the festive reception of the newly risen 
Dino, and Cornelli, too, was filled with ardor. 
The two children kept up their singing quite a 
while, for Agnes could not weary of trying the 
songs for two voices which she had never before 
been able to use. 

Dino did not come until lunch time. 
Though he was still very pale, he felt extremely 
lively. “Hurrah, Cornelli!” he cried out as 
he entered the living room. “ Now you look 
again the way you used to in Iller- Stream 
when you forgot to pull your curtains over 
your brow. You even look better than that, 
Cornelli, you look perfectly splendid! An- 
other hurrah for this great joy! ” 

The next moment a surprise came for Dino : 
the lovely festive song which Agnes and Cor- 
nelli were singing in his honor. The voice of 
the latter was full of purity and strength, and 
15 225 


CORNELLI 


Dino kept on signalling to Nika over and over 
again, saying in a low voice: “ Do you hear it? 
Do you see it? Do you notice it at last? ” 

It was quite evident that two had not been 
of the same opinion about Cornelli till that day. 

So they all had a merry feast. In Cor- 
nells heart the feeling of delicious well-being 
gradually began to drive away all other sensa- 
tions. Her old gaiety broke forth boundlessly 
and roused all the others as well to great merri- 
ment and joy. Dino looked quite well again, 
and his eyes fairly beamed with happiness. 
Even the mother joined in their gay mood, and 
she had to glance over and over again at her 
two daughters, who had seldom shown such 
unclouded joy. She heaved a secret sigh, 
however, and asked herself : I wonder how long 
this happiness will last, for we have hard times 
before us. 

“ Wasn’t I right, after all? ” Dino said to 
his sisters, when Cornelli had retired and the 
family separated at bedtime. The sisters till 
now had made disparaging remark^ to him 
about Cornelli. “ We do not see what attracts 

you in her,” they had said. “We don’t under- 

226 


A GREAT CHANGE 

stand how you can find her entertaining,” 
and so on. 

When Comelli was alone in her room that 
night, she felt as in a dream. What had hap- 
pened to her ? Was it really true that the great 
sorrow which had weighed on her and had taken 
all her joy away had forever disappeared? The 
mother had told her firmly that it had been an 
error, and the children had proved it to be so by 
their reception of her. So she could be happy 
again as she had always been. Cornelli was 
filled with joy and praise to God at this thought. 

“ How wonderfully God has led me,” she 
said in her heart. She remembered how anxi- 
ously she had prayed to Him to prevent her 
from being sent to town. Now she had come to 
town, but in such a different way from what 
she had feared! She had been freed from her 
trouble by going away. Martha had certainly 
been right and she would always try to remem- 
ber this. In the future she would pray to God 
that she might do everything according to His 
will, and she made up her mind that she would 
never again try to force the fulfilment of her 
own wishes. She felt that she owed the good 
227 


CORNELLI 


Lord in Heaven especial praises, so she lay 
down to sleep quite late, and because of her 
happiness, even stayed awake a long time after 
her prayers were said. 

“ I have to tell you something, Cornelli,” 
said the mother next day, when all the family 
was peacefully gathered around the supper 
table. “You know that I have written to your 
father asking him to let you stay here a little 
longer. He has answered me, saying that he 
would be very pleased if his little daughter 
could stay with us for a year and could take all 
the lessons that my daughters are taking; but 
he leaves you free to decide about it. So you 
must write to your father to let him know the 
answer to his proposal. 

“ Oh, you must stay here, Cornelli. Won’t 
you please stay? ” Dino exclaimed. “ Then 
you can be here till summer time and we two 
can go back to Iller- Stream together, for it is 
quite settled that I am going again to our good 
old Martha.” 

“ And I’ll go, too,” Mux said with convic- 
tion. “ Do you know, Cornelli,” he whispered 
into her ear, “I’ll stay with you all the time in 

228 


A GREAT CHANGE 


your own house and Dino can go alone to 
old Martha.” 

Agnes was simply enchanted with this new 
prospect. “ Oh, how wonderful, how wonder- 
ful ! ” she exclaimed over and over again. 
“Now we can have singing lessons together and 
sing again at home. Oh, that is too wonderful !” 

Nika also begged Cornelli to stay. “ I hope 
you will tell your father that you intend to re- 
main with us, Cornelli,” she said. “We are 
only just beginning to know you well.” 

Cornelli’s eyes sparkled with pleasure, for 
now the whole family wanted to keep her with 
them. Suddenly a thought flashed through 
her. When her father had threatened to send 
her to town for a year, she had been terribly 
upset, and now the year spent in town with this 
family seemed like pure pleasure. How differ- 
ent everything had been from what she had 
thought and feared. 

“ I should love to stay here! ” she exclaimed 
with deep emotion. “ Can I write to Papa 
now? ” That suited Mrs. Halm exactly. Sit- 
ting down beside Cornelli, she also wrote to Mr. 
Hellmut, and both letters were sent at once. 

229 


CORNELLI 


Two days later Mr. Hellmut was sitting at 
the breakfast table, looking at his mail. First 
of all he opened a fat envelope which had come 
to him from town. There were two letters in 
it which caused him great surprise. Mrs. Halm 
wrote that all the members of her family had 
joyfully received his proposal to leave Cornelli 
with them for a longer stay. She told him that 
they had all become so fond of Cornelli that she 
would have left behind a feeling of real loss. 

Cornelli’s letter read as follows: 


Dear Papa: 

I should love to stay here, for the mother and all the 
children are very good to me, and I love them dearly. I 
should also like to learn lots and lots of things. Nika 
and Agnes know so much and are so clever, and I should 
be so glad to learn what they know. I shall be unspeak- 
ably happy if you will let me stay. Please give my love 
to Martha, Esther, and Matthew. 

Your Cornelli. 

After reading the letters, the Director 
shook his head. “ What on earth has hap- 
pened?” he said to himself. “ A few weeks 

have hardly passed since they told me that this 
230 


A GREAT CHANGE 


child could not be set to rights, and I have my- 
self seen how stubborn she was and how 
strangely she behaved. And what a change al- 
ready! However, I must not take literally 
what has probably been written in a moment 
of excitement.” 

Mr. Hellmut was very glad about Cornelli’s 
intention to remain in town, for thus his great- 
est care had been taken from him. A lovely 
woman, who with her children had made a most 
favorable impression on him, had promised to 
devote herself to his child, and he only won- 
dered how long the present arrangement 
would last. 

Mrs. Halm had soon arranged a regular 
course of studies for Cornelli. Agnes was very 
anxious for her to start music lessons right 
away, for she thought that that was the most 
important thing. Cornelli herself was eager 
to do this, for she wanted to learn everything 
that Nika and Agnes were learning. So she 
threw herself with fresh energy into all the 
fields of study that were opened to her. 

Dino also was going to school, for he had 

entirely recovered. Every morning the four 
231 


CORNELLI 


children started out gaily, talking eagerly 
while they walked down the street, until they 
finally separated for their various schools. If 
they met again on their way home, they were 
still more lively, for they would tell each other 
all their experiences. Cornelli surpassed them 
all in that respect. She had the talent of de- 
scribing everything in such a funny and vivid 
fashion that she made them all laugh. 

Mux alone was unhappy in these days, for 
he had lost his beloved companion. Full of 
anger, he would meet the four laughing school 
children when they were coming up the stairs 
and would say: “ If I owned all the schools I 
would certainly burn them.” 

“ But I hope not all the teachers, too, Mux,” 
said Dino, “ for then one would have to tell an 
even worse tale about you than you were telling 
about Agnes.” 

The door between Cornelli’s and the sisters’ 
room was always open now, for they all had 
wished it. There was not a single evening on 
which they did not make use of the last 
moment for talking to each other about their 
mutual interests. 


232 


A GREAT CHANGE 


Cornelli was filled with admiration for Nika 
and for everything she did. She could not 
understand how Nika, who was so lovely and 
could do such wonderful things, could have a 
sorrow. She had never forgotten about it, be- 
cause she had often noticed that the young girl 
suffered from some grief. 

Even Agnes often stopped laughing quite 
suddenly. She would say: “ Yes, Cornelli, it 
is easy for you to be jolly. It is easy for you.” 
So Cornelli knew that Agnes also carried a 
care about with her. When Agnes frowned 
and made dreadful wrinkles, Cornelli was 
quite sure that then her sorrow was hurting 
her. She would have loved to help her, but she 
had never asked her friends about it. She 
knew that she had been glad when nobody had 
asked her about her own trouble. 

One day it happened that Agnes came home 
from her music lesson quite upset and terribly 
excited. “ Oh, Mama,” she called from the 
door, “ the teacher has given us the pieces to- 
day which we have to play for our examinations. 

He has given me the most difficult one, and 

233 


CORNELLI 


while giving it to me he said: 4 1 shall really 
make something fine out of you.’ ” 

Agnes was throwing her music sheets away 
as if they were her greatest enemies ; then she 
ran away to her room. There she threw herself 
down on a chair and began to sob loudly. Cor- 
nelli had followed her, for she was filled with 
sympathy. Putting her arms about Agnes, she 
said: 44 Tell me, Agnes, what makes you cry. 
I know what it is like to have to cry like that. 
But why do you do it now, when your teacher 
has just praised you? ” 

44 What good is that to me? ” Agnes burst 
out. 44 How does it help me to play ever so 
well? What good would it ever do me even to 
practice day and night? Nika and I can only 
keep on one year more, and then everything is 
over. Then she cant paint any more and I 
can’t have any more music lessons, for we shall 
have to become dressmakers. We won’t even 
have time to go through the higher classes in 
school. I would a thousand times rather travel 
through the world and sing in front of the 
houses for pennies — yes, I’ll do that! ” 

44 Can’t your mother help you?” asked 

234 


A GREAT CHANGE 

Cornelli, remembering the mother’s help in her 
own case. 

“ No, she can’t; and she is very unhappy 
herself. There is not a soul on earth who could 
help us, for our guardian says that it just has 
to be.” 

Cornelli was quite crushed by this explana- 
tion, for now she understood quite well why 
Nika often had such sad eyes. The hopeless 
prospect made Cornelli’s heart heavy, too. 
When Agnes had had such a passionate out- 
break, she did not regain her composure for 
several days. Then Nika would not say a 
word, either, and the mother only looked very 
sadly at her children. 

Then Dino also became silent, for he knew 
what tormented his mother and his sisters. He 
would have loved to help them, but he knew no 
way. So Cornelli could not laugh any more, 
either, and her friend’s great sorrow weighed 
on her, too, for she had experienced a heavy 
grief herself and had not forgotten what it 
was like. 


CHAPTER X 


NEW LIFE IN ILLER-STREAM 

W INTER had come. For the inhabi- 
tants of the garret lodging the days 
were filled with so much regular work 
that the nights were always greeted with 
loud regrets and complaints. They were al- 
ways sorry when the day was done and no more 
time was left for their plans. Agnes was espe- 
cially angry and ready to spit fire from disgust 
at the arrival of the hated bedtime which always 
broke up everything. 

“We lose half of our lives in sleeping,” she 
indignantly called out several times. “ I wish 
you would let us sing all night long, Mother,” 
she said. “We should only be more keen for 
our other work next day, if we could really 
devote ourselves to music for a while, instead 
of always stopping off in the middle whenever 
we are in the mood to sing.” The children’s 
mother, however, did not agree with Agnes, so 

the nights had to be used for sleeping as before. 

936 


NEW LIFE IN ILLER-STREAM 


Cornelli’s singing delighted Agnes more 
and more. Cornelli sang everything as lightly 
and freely as a bird, and with such a clear and 
resonant voice that everybody got pleasure 
from it. There was no other voice in the whole 
school which was as sure and as full as Cor- 
nelli’s. Even the teacher said so, and during 
the singing lesson he placed her right in front 
of him, because she was the best leader of 
the chorus. 

In the middle of winter Mr. Hellmut wrote 
to Mrs. Halm to inform her that he was taking 
a lengthy journey to foreign parts. As he felt 
that Cornelli was well taken care of in her 
household, he was anxious to use this oppor- 
tunity for travelling. He also wrote that he 
had shortened his last trip in order not to tie 
his kind cousin and her friend too long to his 
lonely house. He told her that he was very 
sorry not to be able to pay her and Cornelli a 
visit before leaving, for he had to start at once. 

Never before had spring come so fast. So 
at least it seemed to Cornelli, who was walking 

home alone one day from school. The winter 
237 


CORNELL! 


had gone by and already a mild wind was blow- 
ing through the streets, and the melting snow 
was dropping from the roofs. 

From the top of a roof a little bird was 
whistling and singing a song of delight to the 
bright blue sky above. Cornelli’s school had 
been over sooner than the other children’s, so 
she was in no hurry and stood still to listen. A 
ray of sunshine was flowing into the street, and 
the bird kept on singing and whistling, on and 
on, a heavenly, familiar sound. 

Suddenly the lovely beech wood at home 
rose before Cornelli’s eyes, and she saw the 
trees in their first green leaves, the first violets 
under the hedge, her beloved first violets; she 
saw the yellow crocuses sparkling beside the 
bright red primroses in the garden. The birds 
at home used to whistle above her in all the 
trees in just the same way as these in the city. 

Oh, how lovely the coming of the spring 
had always been at home! How wonderful it 
would be to see all these familiar sights again! 
At that thought Cornelli ran to the house as 
fast as she possibly could. Sitting down beside 
her ink-well she wrote as follows : 


238 


NEW LIFE IN ILLER-STREAM 


Dear Papa: 

I am sure it is more beautiful at home now than any- 
where else. May I come home soon? I am sure that the 
violets are out and that everything is getting green in the 
woods. Soon there will be lots of flowers in the garden, 
and later on the roses, and then all the berries and for- 
get-me-nots in the meadows will come out. I know now 
that it is nowhere as beautiful as at home. I should love 
to show the mother and the girls everything, and I know 
that Mux would adore the little kid. Dino already loves 
the meadows and the garden, and I hope that he will come 
to Iller-Stream again. If I could only soon see it 
all again ! 

A great many kisses, 

from your daughter, 

Cornelli. 

Cornelli did not get an answer from her 
father for three weeks. He wrote to her that 
his journey had been lengthened beyond his 
expectation. He also said how glad he was 
that his daughter had suddenly realized what a 
beautiful home she had, but that he disapproved 
entirely of her leaving her school abruptly. 
He told her to stay in town till the summer 
holidays, for he was obliged himself to stay 
away till then. He gave her permission to in- 
239 


CORNELLI 


vite for the holidays all the family who had 
been so good to her, for he and Cornelli, too, 
had much reason to be grateful to Mrs. Halm. 
There was plenty of room for all of them in the 
house, and he would like to have them with him 
all summer long. 

Cornelli at first was a little disappointed 
that it was going to be so long before she could 
be home and see again the garden, the meadows 
and the beech wood, for her longing for them 
had grown more and more. But when she 
thought of the prospect of having all the family 
with her all summer, including Dino and his 
mother, she was so happy that all her 
disappointment vanished. 

Her joy was supreme when that day at 
lunch time she gave the family her father’s in- 
vitation. On all sides she perceived signs of 
boundless joy. Nika and Agnes had had the 
firm conviction that they were to spend the 
summer, as usual, in the hot garret dwelling 
without any special holidays. And now they 
could spend all summer in beautiful Iller- 
Stream, about which Dino had told them so 
much. He had described Cornelli’s house and 
240 


NEW LIFE IN ILLER-STREAM 


garden as a perfect paradise, and now they 
would live there themselves. 

Agnes screamed for joy and Nika’s face 
was radiant with happiness. Mrs. Halm was 
greatly moved with gratitude and delight. She 
had been worrying lately about Dino, for she 
had been uncertain whether she would be able 
to send him away long enough for the boy to be 
properly strengthened. She had feared that 
the time would have to be exceedingly short 
and that the benefit therefore would be very 
slight. N ow the good God had suddenly taken 
all her anxiety from her and had changed it 
into a boundless blessing. 

Dino smiled with complete satisfaction, and 
said again and again: “ I wish you knew how 
wonderful it all is. Such a garden and such 
trees! Such a stable and such horses! Oh, 
how I love beautiful Iller-Stream! ” 

Mux called out louder and louder: “ Oh, 
Cornelli, take me along! ” He could not real- 
ize that he was really going, too. There were 
still many days and even weeks before their 
bliss would come true, but with this heavenly 

16 241 


CORNELLI 


prospect before them the children performed 
their remaining duties only too joyfully. 

It was different for Cornelli. Her longing 
for her home had grown more violent every 
day. Wherever she saw a green tree or a bush, 
she saw the garden at home, the meadows, and 
the flowers in Iller- Stream before her mind’s 
eye. So her desire to return there, to see it all 
again, became almost painful. She felt finally 
as if the day would never come when she could 
again see her home. 

It came, nevertheless. A large trunk was 
taken away on a cart, and the whole family fol- 
lowed it towards the station. Trina came last. 
In her wondering eyes one could see that de- 
spite all the preparations she did not yet believe 
the reality of the coming journey. Cornelli 
had begged Mrs. Halm so urgently to let her 
go, too, that the child’s wish had been granted. 
Cornelli had been willing to take the responsi- 
bility for the unexpected guest. Mux was so 
excited that he kept on running in front of 
everybody and hindering them all in walking. 

“ Be sensible, Mux! ” Dino exclaimed. “ If 

242 


NEW LIFE IN ILLER-STREAM 


you go on like that, well miss the train and 
there won’t be any trip.” 

These words disconcerted Mux to such a 
degree that he simply tore away down the 
street. Dino had to run after him to catch 
him, for Mux knew no road or way and had 
dashed ahead only in his fear of arriving 
too late. 

At last they reached the station and entered 
their car. Now they were moving out into the 
beautiful country. The sun was shining over 
the fields and woods, and there was not a single 
cloud in the sky. Cornelli was sitting beside 
the open window, eagerly looking out. The 
journey lasted for a little more than two hours, 
and as soon as it was over they got out. 

“ Here he comes, here he comes! ” Cornelli 
cried out, running towards the road which led 
into the valley. Here Matthew was just stop- 
ping the pair of horses from their lively trot. 

In a moment Cornelli was at the dismount- 
ing coachman’s side, calling to him: “ How are 
you, Matthew? I am coming home again. Is 
everything at home still the same? ” 

“Welcome, Cornelli, welcome home!” he 
243 


CORNELL! 


said, radiant with joy, for his master’s child was 
his greatest pride. “ But how you have grown, 
Cornelli ! Oh, how changed our Cornelli is ! ” 

Matthew shook her hand with great delight 
and then opened the carriage door for the 
family who had approached. 

“ Oh, here is the young gentleman from 
last summer,” Matthew said again, shaking 
Dino’s hand. 44 But you looked better when 
you were with us. Oh, yes, the young gentle- 
man looked much better then, I think.” 

“ I should think so, Matthew,” said Dino. 
4 4 Of course, I looked better when I could drink 
such good milk from the stable, in the fine, fresh 
morning air. It was different in town.” 

Mrs. Halm had entered the carriage and 
the two girls had followed. Mux, gazing mo- 
tionless at the shining horses, could not be taken 
away in a hurry from that wonderful sight. 

44 They are coming along, too,” said 
Matthew, who enjoyed the open admiration 
the little boy was showing. 44 You will be able 
to look at them every day, and you can ride on 
them to the fountain.” 

That helped the situation. Everybody was 
244 


NEW LIFE IN ILLER-STREAM 


soon inside of the carriage, and Trina sat be^ 
side Matthew on the coachman’s box. Now 
they galloped gaily along into the valley. 

“ Oh, mother, just look at the red daisies! ” 
Cornelli cried out. “ Oh, look at the golden 
buttercups! Oh, look, look; see all the blue 
forget-me-nots ! ” 

Cornelli had jumped up, for she could not 
sit still any more, and was looking forwards and 
backwards, to right and to left. The meadows 
had never been so full of flowers, and every few 
moments Cornelli cried out with delight. When 
the carriage drove into the courtyard, Cornelli 
was the first to jump down. 

“ Oh, Esther, how are you? ” she called to 
her old friend. Full of dignity and covered 
with a spotless white apron, the cook stood 
ready to receive the guests. 

“ Oh, now I am home again! Is everything 
still the same? Is the garden still the way it 
was? And Martha and her house, too? ” 

“ Yes, yes, Cornelli. And how are you? ” 
returned Esther, looking eagerly at Cornelli. 
“ How you have changed! In truth you have 
changed wonderfully. You are not the same.” 

245 


CORNELL! 


Cornelli was already running into the house 
to the living-room and to her own wardrobe. 
Yes, everything had remained the same. She 
flew outside again to the mother, to lead her 
into the house. The child’s face fairly beamed 
with joy. 

Cornelli’s father was busy working in his 
office. Hearing the sound of the approaching 
wheels, he started. “ Here they are already,” 
he said to himself. He hastily threw off his 
working coat and putting on a good coat left the 
iron foundry. While he was walking across 
the courtyard he sighed deeply. Freshly 
stamped in his memory, he saw before him his 
only child as she had looked when he had re- 
turned from his journey a year ago. Cornelli 
had stood before him shyly, with averted 
glance, resembling a little savage, who had 
never been combed. 

“ I wonder what the child is like now? ” he 
muttered to himself. 

As he entered the living room Cornelli 
looked up at him. The Director was quite 
startled at what he saw. Now Cornelli flew 
up to him. 


246 


NEW LIFE IN ILLER-STREAM 


“ Oh, Papa, oh, Papa! It is so wonderful 
to be home again! Everything is still the way 
it used to be. Oh, I am so glad to be 
home again! ” 

The father wanted to embrace his child, but 
before he did so he held her at arm’s length to 
gaze at her once more. 

“ Cornelli,” he said with tears in his eyes, 
“ you look at me the way your mother used to. 
You have grown just like your mother,” he 
said, putting his arms lovingly about her. 
“ How was it possible ? How could you change 
in this way? How did it happen? ” 

“ Mother knows about it, Papa. Mother 
has helped me,” said Cornelli, going with shin- 
ing eyes to the mother, for Mrs. Halm had re- 
treated to the back of the room. 

The Director now turned to his new guest. 
“ Welcome to our house,” he said heartily, 
greeting both her and the children. Holding 
Cornelli’s hand within his own, he continued 
with emotion: “How different you have 
brought her back to me ! How did you do it ? 
Can this be the same child that I brought you? ” 
The happy father had to look at Cornelli 
24>7 


CORNELLI 


over and over again, for he hardly yet realized 
that this was his child. Was this really Cornelli 
and not a creature of his imagination? So he 
held the child’s hand and looked again and 
again into her shining eyes ; it really seemed as 
if he could not believe it. 

Esther, laden with the dinner dishes, now 
came into the room to set the table. She in- 
formed her master that the guest rooms were 
ready and that she supposed the ladies wanted 
to retire before the coming meal. 

Mrs. Halm and her daughter gladly fol- 
lowed her, but Cornelli said: “ Oh, Papa, can I 
run over to Martha? I’ll be back very soon.” 

Dino also begged to go, for he longed to 
see old Martha again. As the permission had 
readily been given, the two children started off. 
They had meant to run down the path, but Cor- 
nelli could not go fast. The meadow was so 
full of daisies, buttercups and especially of 
blue forget-me-nots, her favorite flowers, that 
she felt as if she had to gather them all, and 
Dino had to remind her that their time was 
short and that the flowers would still be 
there to-morrow. 


248 



NOW BOTH CAME FLYING UP THE STEPS, AND MARTHA RAN OUT TO MEET THEM 







NEW LIFE IN ILLER- S TRE AM 


Martha had heard that Cornelli and her 
guests were expected that day, so she had sev- 
eral times glanced towards the garden to see if 
she could discover trace of her or of Dino. Now 
both came flying up the steps, and Martha ran 
out to meet them. Oh, yes, here was Dino, 
Dino whom she knew so well, and Cornelli, too 
— Martha looked at the child and tried to say 
something. Instead of that, however, bright 
tears started to her eyes, and she was unable 
to speak. 

“ Oh, Martha, how I have looked forward 
to coming home and coming to you right 
away!” Cornelli exclaimed. “Are you glad, 
too, Martha? Oh, I am so happy! ” 

“ I too, I too, Cornelli,” Martha assured 
her. “ What memories you bring back to me, 
child, for you have grown just like your mother. 
Oh, how different you are now from what you 
were. God has blessed your life in town. It 
seems like a miracle. Oh, how I have prayed 
for this! ” 

After these words she shook Dino’s hand, 

looking at him rather sadly, for her great joy 
249 


CORNELLI 


at seeing him again was dimmed by his 
delicate appearance. 

“ Oh, Dino, how pale and thin you 
look,” she said. “ Last year you were so 
much stouter.” 

“ That is why I came again to Iller- 
Stream,” Dino replied cheerfully. “ You must 
rejoice with us now, Mrs. Martha, for Comelli 
and I are tremendously pleased to be here 
again. It is just as lovely here as it was last 
year, and now we can come to see you every 
day, for this seems like home.” 

Martha was so moved that she could not 
speak. Here was Cornelli, looking as fresh 
and bright as ever ; all the unspeakably sad ex- 
pression had vanished from her face, together 
with the awful disfigurement of those days. 
The old woman was deeply stirred by the happy 
look in the little girl’s eyes. Her young mother 
had looked at her just that way. And here 
was Dino, too, full of his old attachment, and 
speaking such kind words to her. She could 
hardly believe this great happiness. 

“ We have to go, now, Martha,” Cornelli 
said, “ but we’ll come every day the way we 
250 


NEW LIFE IN ILLER-STREAM 


used to; you know that, Martha. I’ll run over 
every single day.” 

“ And I, too,” cried Dino. When the 
happy little couple were running away, Martha 
looked after them from her little stairway. Her 
eyes were moist, yet followed the two till they 
were lost from sight. 

Even then she still stood there with 
folded hands. 

“ Oh, good God,” she said quietly, “ my 
heart is full of thankfulness. Thou hast blessed 
everything that was hard for the child, and 
hast turned everything to good.” 

When the children entered the house, Cor- 
nelli said: “ Just go in, Dino, I’ll soon 
follow you.” 

Then she turned and went into the kitchen. 

“ Oh, I was hoping all the time that our 
Cornelli could still find her way to the kitchen,” 
said Esther with satisfaction. “ Come and let 
me have a real look at you, Cornelli ! ” 

Esther placed herself squarely in front of 
the child and said: “ You have grown a lot last 

year, Cornelli. And your hair is so neatly 
251 


CORNELL! 


combed and brushed ! One certainly can enjoy 
looking at our Cornelli, now.” 

Cornelli blushed a little, for she had to re- 
member the way she had looked when she had 
gone away. She knew how it had been and 
how she had shut her heart against the help 
Esther had often offered her. 

“ Oh, Esther, I have to tell you something. 
Where is Trina, the maid, who has come 
with them? ” 

“ I told her to go behind the house to look 
at the vegetable garden,” said Esther. “ She 
stood in my way all the time. I am afraid she 
is not very quick.” 

“ No, she isn’t; I know that. But Esther, 
I want to tell you something about her. Please 
be good to her! ” Cornelli begged. “ You see, 
Trina is block-headed and awkward, but she 
can’t help it. You don’t know how that is, but 
I know. And if you are very good to her, she 
won’t mind as much being that way. Won’t 
you do me that favor, Esther? ” 

Full of surprise, Esther looked after 
the child, who was running towards the 
dining room. 


252 


NEW LIFE IN ILLER-STREAM 


“ How does she ever think of such things,” 
Esther murmured to herself. “ One might 
think Cornelh had to begin at the bottom her- 
self, instead of being the Director’s daughter 
who can have whatever she wants.” 

Esther kept on shaking her head for quite 
a while, but she was anxious to show Cornelli 
that she was the only daughter of the house 
and could command her. She was very proud 
of Cornelli’s position and eager to prove to her 
young mistress that she was only too happy to 
follow her wishes. 

When the first merry meal was over, the 
children were allowed to run out to the garden. 
They already knew what they were going to 
see there, because Dino had described it to them 
with great enthusiasm. He had told them about 
the flower garden with its wealth of color, the 
trellises, covered with red peaches, the heavily 
laden pear and apple trees. Now they could 
see all those wonders for themselves, including 
the stable with the splendid cows and the proud 
and shining horses. So the five children ran 
away with great eagerness. 

The Director and Mrs. Halm remained in 
253 


CORNELL! 


the dining room, drinking their coffee in each 
other’s company. 

“ Please, Mr. Hellmut,” she said, as soon 
as the door had closed behind the children, 
“ please let me thank you for your great kind- 
ness. I want to tell you how grateful I am.” 

“ What do you mean? Why do you want 
to thank me, Mrs. Halm? ” the Director inter- 
rupted her. “ Please let me speak first! It is 
I who want to thank you. I shall never be 
able to repay you for what you have done. 
What wonders you have accomplished for my 
child ! How you have been able to change and 
develop Cornelli ! How well she looks now ! I 
have to gaze at her again and again, for I can 
hardly believe that it is the same child. How 
can I thank you enough? How did you ever 
do it? And what patience, care and trouble 
you must have taken with her. I am afraid that 
it has required endless thought on your part to 
bring her back like this.” 

“ Oh, no, Mr. Hellmut, that was not the 
way at all,” said Mrs. Halm. “ Cornelli has 
cost me neither patience, care, nor trouble. If 
by a little love I have been able to draw out 
254 


NEW LIFE IN ILLER- S THE AM 


the good kernel of her nature and bring it to 
happy development, then that is all I have done. 
Cornelli has never made my task hard for me. 
We have all become so fond of her that we had 
to think with sorrow of the time when she would 
leave us. I shall never forget what happy 
hours Dino had with Cornelli during his illness 
and how she constantly entertained my sociable 
little Mux with her constant merriment and 
kindness. Yes, Mr. Hellmut, I shall never 
forget what she has done, and I can assure you 
that you have a lovely little daughter.” 

The Director jumped up in his excitement 
and strode to and fro in the room. What dif- 
ferent enthusiasm from that of a year ago ! 

“You do not know what you are saying, 
Mrs. Halm,” he said, standing still before her. 
“ You are relieving me of most dreadful 
anxiety. I have suffered perfect tortures, be- 
cause I was blaming myself for having neg- 
lected my Cornelia’s child. I thought it was 
too late and that Cornelli had grown hopelessly 
stubborn. Now you have come and brought 
me back my child so that she even resembles her 

mother in her eyes and her whole expression 

255 


CORNELLI 


and appearance. My wife was friendly and 
gay, and now you tell me that this is Cornelli’s 
disposition, too.” 

“ I have to tell you something else, Mr. 
Hellmut,” Mrs. Halm continued. “ I am per- 
fectly sure that a child’s first impressions are 
very important. It is natural that Cornelli 
missed her mother’s guidance, but she was not 
by any means a neglected child when she came 
to me. From what she and Dino have told me 
I am perfectly sure that Martha gave Cornelli 
the best one can possibly give a child on spirit- 
ual education. I esteem old Martha very 
highly, for she must love and understand chil- 
dren as few people do.” 

“ My wife used to say the same thing, and 
that is why I had such confidence in Martha. 
Unfortunately a time came later on when I 
feared that she was wrong, and I did not real- 
ize what she meant to Cornelli. You have re- 
minded me of my great debt ” 

At this moment such loud laughter and re- 
joicing sounded from below that both stepped 
to the open window. 

Mux was screaming loudly, and seemed 
256 


NEW LIFE IN ILLER-STREAM 


quite beside himself. “ Mama, Mama,” he 
cried out, “ just look at a living goat boy and a 
real goat ! Come down and see me ! ” 

Mux was sitting on the seat of a lovely 
wicker carriage, with two reins in one hand and 
a whip in the other, while a young and slender 
goat was pulling him. Agnes and Cornelli 
were running beside the carriage as pro- 
tectors, while Dino held the goat lightly by 
the reins to keep her from running off. All 
the children were screaming with delight at 
the wonderful ride. 

Matthew was standing beside the bushes 
to watch this trial trip, for he thought that his 
help might be needed. He had built the car- 
riage for Cornelli and had already several 
times harnessed the goat so as to teach her how 
to behave when Cornelli returned. When 
Matthew had first shown the little conveyance 
to the children, Cornelli had said right away 
that Mux had to take the first ride in order to 
realize the scene he loved so much in his 
picture book. 

Mux simply screamed to his mother in wild 
17 257 


CORNELL! 


joy. To see the wonderful spectacle from 
near by, she came down to the garden. 

The Director also left the house, but he 
went another way. Not long afterwards he 
went up Martha’s little stairway to the porch 
where the old woman sat on her stool mending. 

“ Oh, Mr. Hellmut! ” she called out in her 
surprise. Opening the door she led her visitor 
into her room, for the porch was very narrow. 

Mr. Hellmut entered. 

“ Martha,” he said in a business-like tone, 
“ I have spoiled your business by taking your 
boarder away from you forever. That requires 
a compensation, and so I have just bought your 
little cottage from the farmer over there, besides 
the little piece of ground in front of it. Now 
you will have more room for your carnations, 
and if you manage well, you can surely have 
some pleasant days from the rent which you 
save. Are you satisfied? ” 

“ Oh, Mr. Hellmut! Is this little house 
really my own, now, and will I really have a 
garden besides? Oh, Mr. Hellmut! ” 

But her benefactor would not let her say 
258 


NEW LIFE IN ILLER-STREAM 


any more. After heartily shaking her hand, he 
hurried away. 

The large raspberries were peeping out be- 
tween the green leaves, and the golden plums 
were dropping from the heavily laden branches. 
From morning till night on these beautiful 
summer days Mux fairly swam in uninter- 
rupted bliss. Before he had even opened his 
eyes in the morning, he would call out to his 
mother in his sleep : “ Oh, mother, are we in 
Iller-Stream still? Are we still here? ” Then 
the hours of the day began, each more lovely 
than the last, and Mux could not tell which was 
the best. 

As the boy spent most of the day in the 
stable, the hayloft, and the barn, his mother had 
been obliged to make him a special stable cos- 
tume. The little boy loved to watch the milk- 
ing of the cows, and he never tired of admiring 
the horses and the goat. 

Matthew had become his best friend. The 
gardener constantly thought out pleasant sur- 
prises for Mux, who showed a decided taste 
for farming. If Matthew had to do some im- 
portant work where Mux was in his way, he al- 
259 


CORNELL! 


ways devised a plan to keep the boy amused 
elsewhere: “Go down there to the raspberry 
hedge, Mux ! ” he would say. “ The berries 
are finest and biggest there, because the sun 
has cooked them through. Go to the plum tree 
afterwards and wait for me ! ” 

Mux would obey promptly, wandering over 
to the plum tree from the raspberry bushes, 
which he had lightened considerably. He then 
would sit thoughtfully under the plum tree, 
waiting till Matthew returned. The gardener 
then shook the tree so mightily that a flood of 
golden plums came rolling down over Mux, 
who could freely enjoy the wealth about him. 

If Matthew could not be found and Cor- 
nelli and Dino were busy with their own plans 
and did not need him. Mux knew another 
friend who always gave him a good reception, 
that friend was Esther. He loved to find her 
in the vegetable garden, which was also full of 
surprises for him. It was like a marvel to the 
little boy that the green peas hung here in 
abundance, whereas they were only served at 
home on feast days. He became quite scared 
when Esther picked a basketful. But when he 
260 


NEW LIFE IN ILLER-STREAM 


warned her, saying, “ Don’t take them all, for 
then we won’t have any more,” she only laughed 
and said: “ They always grow again; in a week 
there will be plenty more.” 

If Mux looked a little timidly at the large 
cabbage heads, Esther said to him: “ Don’t be 
afraid of them, Mux. If I cook cabbage, every- 
body else likes it so much that you won’t have 
to eat it at all, and you can take the potatoes 
which I serve with it.” 

Mux often accompanied Esther to the 
kitchen, where he soon picked up a lot of useful 
knowledge. There was no pastry the exact 
recipe of which as well as how it tasted Mux 
could not tell. In this manner he lived through 
heavenly days. 

They were no less heavenly for the other 
children. Dino and Cornelli had started the 
large undertaking of laying out Martha’s gar- 
den after their own plan. They were so busy 
inventing things and carrying them out that 
they could hardly ever be found. 

Agnes struggled with Dino for first place 
in Cornelli’s affection, but Dino was always the 

victor. Cornelli never forgot that he had been 
261 


CORNELLI 


her first friend, who had held fast to their 
friendship. For this she remained faithful 
to him. 

It was a consolation to Agnes that she could 
play on the lovely piano whenever she wanted 
to and that Cornelli was always home in the 
evenings, when she could sing with her. Mr. 
Hellmut would sit in his arm-chair while the 
two girls sang one song after another, and he 
could never hear enough. Beaming with joy, 
he would say to Mrs. Halm from time to time : 
“ The child has her mother’s voice, except that 
her mother’s voice was still fuller and softer.” 

Mrs. Halm’s face would beam, too, as she 
would say: “Just have a little patience, Di- 
rector. You are sure some day to hear Cor- 
nelli’s voice when there will be nothing more to 
desire in it. Her teacher’s highest wish is to 
train her voice.” For answer the father nodded 
and lay back in his chair smiling contentedly. 

Nika, too, was completely changed. No 
shadows dimmed her eyes, for she could wander 
about all day with her paint box from one lovely 
spot to another, up to the beech wood or to the 
hill where the big oak tree stood. There she 
262 


NEW LIFE IN ILLER-STREAM 

could sit on a bench and look down, over the 
house and garden, and far below into the wide, 
green valley. Nika was very happy to be able 
to spend all her time in painting, without ever 
being disturbed or called away by unwished- 
for duties. 

When the mother saw the happy faces of 
her girls and Dino’s improved health, she felt 
very happy, too. Suddenly, however, the 
thought would rise in her : How will it be when 
these lovely days are over and we have to start 
living again in the narrow confines of town 
and in the shadow of those coming years ? 

The holidays were nearing their end, but 
nobody yet had time to think of that, for the 
Director’s birthday was drawing near and this 
was to be the great feast day for everybody. 
Mrs. Halm had asked each of the children to 
think out some surprise for Mr. Hellmut. For 
Mux, however, she wrote a beautiful birthday 
verse. As the little boy’s head was filled solely 
with thoughts of the barn and stable, the 
kitchen and the goat cart, the plums, the beetles 
and ants, it took a great deal of time and 

trouble to fix the verse in his memory. 

263 


CORNELLI 


Nika, needing no advice, had long ago de- 
cided what to do. Every day as soon as the 
meals were over, she silently disappeared. 
Agnes and Cornelli bolted the door of the 
music room and let mysterious songs issue from 
behind it. Only Dino was still undecided about 
his task. When he was left alone with his 
mother and Mux one day, and all the others 
were busy with their preparations, he said: 
“ Tell me what I could do, mother.” 

“ Draw him a picture of the beautiful 
goat,” Mux advised. He knew that Dino could 
draw animals well, and to him there was no 
finer animal in all the world than the goat. 

“ What a knowing goat boy you are, Mux,” 
Dino exclaimed. Despite his refusal to draw 
the goat, he had nevertheless gotten an idea 
from his little brother. “ Oh, I’ll draw the two 
brown horses,” he called out joyously. “ I’ll 
make one trotting and the other walking. 
Matthew must lead them up for me.” 

So the boy ran happily to the stable, and 
after that day he and Matthew had many meet- 
ings in secret. 

The birthday came at last. 

264 


NEW LIFE IN ILLER-STREAM 


When the Director entered the dining room 
in the morning, such a beautiful duet resounded 
from the next room that he was compelled to 
draw nearer. Agnes and Cornelli were both 
singing a lovely song with such deep feeling 
that the Director could hardly speak. When 
they had ended, he patted them both on the 
shoulder with fatherly tenderness and then 
passed into the next room. Here Mux ap- 
proached him and said his verse faultlessly in 
a loud, clear voice. On the table the Director 
found two beautiful drawings of his brown 
horses, and his joy over them was so great that 
he did not put them down for quite a while. 
But finally he saw all at once a large picture 
resting in the middle of the table. His house, 
with the surrounding garden, the luminous 
meadow with the view toward the valley and 
the distant mountains beyond, was painted in 
such fresh and absolutely natural colors that 
Mr. Hellmut was quite overcome. This was 
the view he had loved so passionately from 
his childhood. 

“Cornelli, come here!” the father called. 

“ Just look at this picture! Don’t you have a 
265 


CORNELLI 


beautiful home? Do you love your home as 
much as your father loves it? ” 

“ Oh yes, Papa, I love it so much! ” said 
Cornelli. “ And I have to think every day 
that I never knew how beautiful it was before I 
went away. But ever since I came home 
again, I know. Oh, how beautiful it looks in 
the picture ! ” 

Agnes had been standing behind Cornelli. 
Suddenly she exclaimed passionately: “ Oh, 
Cornelli, if only you didn’t have such a 
beautiful home ! ” 

“ Agnes,” the mother said in alarm, “ what 
unseemly words are you saying? ” 

The Director looked in astonishment at 
Agnes, whose eyes were flashing fire while she 
regarded the painting. 

“ Have you had a disagreement with Cor- 
nelli? Is that the reason why you don’t want 
her to have such a beautiful home? ” he asked 
with a sly smile. 

Agnes flushed scarlet. 

“ Oh no, Mr. Hellmut, I did not mean it 
that way. I have never fought with Cornelli, 

and I only fight with Dino because he wants to 
266 


NEW LIFE IN ILLER-STREAM 


have Cornelli all the time. If Cornell! didn’t 
have this beautiful home and if she were like 
me and had to give up all her music lessons 
and had to earn her living, we could do fine 
things together. She has such a beautiful voice 
that we could hire a harp and could travel into 
strange cities and sing before the houses. Later 
on we could give concerts and begin a singing 
school. But I can’t do anything alone.” 

At this outbreak, which no sign from her 
could check, the mother became alternately 
hot and cold from fright. Agnes’ eyes still 
flashed with passionate excitement like burn- 
ing coals. 

“ I approve of the singing school, but espe- 
cially of sitting down to breakfast. I hope 
very much that we have the usual chocolate to 
drink to-day, for it is a good old custom for 
birthdays which should not be neglected. So 
a singing school is to be founded,” he continued, 
while Mux gazed solemnly at the three huge 
cakes which were placed beside the three big 
chocolate pots. “ The wandering harp players 
are a little too poetical for me, but I like the 
idea of a school, Agnes. As I, too, wish to 
267 


CORNELLI 


profit from it, I want it to be built on my estate. 
Lots of our workmen in the foundry have small 
children, whose mothers are busy with the house- 
work and their small babies. So Agnes and 
Cornelli are going to found a singing school in 
Iller- Stream, where all the children will go, 
whose mothers have no time for singing. Upon 
their arrival the children shall all be given a 
bowl of milk and a piece of bread apiece to 
make their voices fuller. Now we have settled 
all about the school. I shall also have my two 
teachers instructed, so that they won’t ever be 
out of practice. I have also some work for 
Nika: she shall fill my house with lovely pic- 
tures from top to bottom. To inspire her with 
plenty of new ideas, I am going to send her to 
her professor in town for lessons. Dino shall 
help me keep my two horses in trim by giving 
them plenty of exercise, for that will be good 
for him and them. I can use Mux by having 
him trained to become the manager of my 
estate. The good beginning he has made in the 
knowledge of farming under Matthew’s guid- 
ance shall be continued while the ground is 

covered with green and the trees are bearing 
268 


NEW LIFE IN ILLER-STREAM 


fruit. The mother shall stay here for the pro- 
tection of you all. So tell me, now, how you 
like my plan. Shall it be thus? ” 

Absolute silence followed. The children 
hardly dared to realize that the words they had 
just heard were true, and the mother was filled 
with deep emotion. She could not utter a word, 
and tears flowed from her eyes. Could it be 
possible that her great sorrow and heavy cares 
were suddenly lifted from her? Could it really 
be true? 

At that moment Mux said loudly: “Yes, 
we like it very much ! ” He had clearly grasped 
that it meant for him keeping on doing what he 
had enjoyed so much under Matthew’s and 
Esther’s care. The Director had to laugh, and 
continued: “ I must have the reply of the chief, 
my dear Mrs. Halm, so please listen to my plan. 
I shall let you manage the children in the winter, 
and you shall arrange whatever they are to 
learn, but they must come here in the summer 
when I can enjoy all the results of their studies. 
I shall also enjoy the great advantage of having 

you manage my house when you are here. Does 
269 


CORNELLI 

that suit everybody, or am I getting more than 
my share? ” 

At last the mother composed herself. 

“ Oh, Mr. Hellmut, how can I thank you? ” 
she said, offering him her trembling hand. “ I 
do not know how to express what is in my heart. 
How can I be grateful enough for such bound- 
less kindness? You cannot know what your 
generosity means to us all.” 

Even the children had understood that this 
unheard-of bliss was true. Nika was the first 
to run with beaming eyes to the Director and 
to seize his hand, but she could find no words to 
show her gratitude. Agnes and Dino, too, had 
run towards the Director, and the latter did 
not know how to shake all the hands that were 
offered to him. Mux, who could find no access 
to his benefactor, climbed up on a chair, and 
putting his arms about him from behind, 
screamed a thousand words of thanks right into 
the Director’s ears. The wild rejoicing be- 
came louder and louder. 

“ Cornelli,” said the father at last, “ give 

thanks to your foster-mother! She has 
270 


NEW LIFE IN ILLER- S THE AM 


earned them, for she has brought joy hack to 
our house.” 

Cornelli did it with a full and willing heart, 
for she realized what the children’s mother had 
done for her. Soon afterwards, Dino and Cor- 
nelli ran away for they had had a simultaneous 
thought. They did not want to wait another 
moment before bringing Martha the wonderful 
news. Nobody on earth could share their 
boundless happiness as Martha would. 

Martha’s heart overflowed when she heard 
what had been proposed. Between freely 
flowing tears she said again and again: “ Oh, 
Cornelli ! Everything has happened so wonder- 
fully for you. God has ordained it much more 
wisely than we could have wished and prayed 
for. From now on, we shall leave everything 
entirely in His hands. We’ll do that as long as 
we live, won’t we, Cornelli ? ” 

Cornelli nodded with understanding; she 
had not forgotten how she had complained to 
Martha, and how Martha had told her to seek 
God’s help. Martha had assured her that the 
help would always come, even if it revealed it- 
self differently from the way she expected. 

271 


CORNELLI 


Now it had all turned out so gloriously, and so 
much more splendidly than Cornelli could ever 
have imagined! 

There had never been such rejoicing in the 
house as Agnes started when she and Nika had 
retired to their room in the evening and Cor- 
nelli had come to pay her accustomed little 
evening visit. She skipped and danced about 
the room like a newly freed bird and called out : 
“Now our troubles are over and no secret fears 
can scare us any more. Now we can sing all we 
want and can live here with you every sum- 
mer, Cornelli. Oh, we are the happiest crea- 
tures in all the world, and it has all happened 
through you, Cornelli ; you wonderful, in- 
comparable Cornelli! ” 

Agnes, seizing her friend’s hand, jumped 
about with her in the room at such a rate that 
Nika had to calm her. The elder sister warned 
Agnes that the Director might have to repent 
of his kindness to them if their lengthy stay 
began with such violent noise. One could see, 
though, that Nika was willing enough to join 
the others in their antics. 

“ The day on which you came to our house, 
272 


NEW LIFE IN ILLER- S THE AM 


Cornelli,” she said, “ has really been more 
blessed than any other day in the year. So we 
must always celebrate it as a great feast day.” 

Nika had lately been very sweet and 
friendly to Cornelli, and the younger girl had 
been very happy about it. But had never 
dreamed that Nika would ever speak to her 
like this. 

When Esther heard that the Halm family 
was going to remain for the present and return 
every year, she said: “ Oh, I am glad. That 
is much better than if some other people I know 
had to come back. It is better for me and for 
Cornelli, as well as for the whole house.” 

“ Oh, if I could only come again, too! ” said 
Trina, whose face in these days was always 
beaming. “ Oh, one feels so happy here! ” 

“ That is very true,” Esther affirmed. “ I 
do not see why you shouldn’t. You don’t need 
to worry, Trina. If Cornelli and I wish you 
well, we’ll see that you come here again.” 

The Director did not like the thought of 
losing his large new family so soon, so he said 
one day to Mrs. Halm: “ I am very anxious to 
prolong the children’s holiday this year till late 
18 273 


CORNELL! 


in the fall. Dino, who is more in need of his 
studies than the others, is least able to go back 
to town, because he ought to be thoroughly 
strengthened and made absolutely well. If it 
should be necessary for him to study, we have 
our good Mr. Maelinger, who can give him 
lessons.” The mother agreed, for she also was 
very anxious to have Dino as well as possible, 
and she was very grateful to her benefactor for 
making this possible. 

“ There is another reason which makes a 
longer stay necessary,” continued the Director. 
“ As I fully intend to visit you and the children 
several times during the winter, I have rented 
a more comfortable apartment for you, be- 
cause I was rather afraid of finding your tower- 
like dwelling a little inconvenient for me. The 
apartment will be ready for you in the late 
autumn, and I want you to get all the rest you 
can before you move there, for it is sure to in- 
volve some additional work for you. I hope 
sincerely that you do not resent my step.” 

“ I can only thank you continually,” said 
the mother now. The children arrived at the 
same moment, and all further words from her 
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NEW LIFE IN ILLER-STREAM 


were swallowed up in their loud and stormy 
manifestations of joy. Cornelli had already 
told them of her father’s plan to let them all 
stay in Iller- Stream till winter time. 

When all the fruit had ripened on the trees 
and Dino was shaking one of them and Cor- 
nelli another, Matthew looked over from the 
barn door, happily rubbing his hands. Right 
under the tree he saw the other children, one 
biting into an apple, the other into a pear. 

“ It certainly is different now from last 
year,” he said, smiling to himself. “ There is 
not a rotten plum or a lonesome pear in all 
the orchard.” 

Every evening, when the last songs re- 
sounded in the house, there were some of thanks 
and praise which rose up to Heaven like a 
loud rejoicing. 

More than once the Director said to his 
little daughter, when she gave him her good- 
night kiss: “ Did not God mean well with us, 
Cornelli, when he guided Martha to write such 
an inviting notice to the paper? ” 



































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